Cop martyred in shootout with ‘muggers’ in Baldia Town

A police constable and a suspect lost their lives during a shootout between law enforcers and alleged muggers in a locality of Baldia Town on Monday night.

District West SSP Fida Hussain Janwari said the Ittehad Town police received information that armed muggers were robbing people near the Muhammad Khan Chowki area. He said police vans were immediately despatched to the scene, but as the suspects saw the law enforcers approaching, they opened fire and a shootout between the two parties ensued.

The suspects sped towards the Tori Bangash area to avoid arrest, and as the police pursued them, Constable Abdur Rehman suffered injuries during the crossfire, added the officer. The SSP said that after the shootout, the police arrested one of the suspects in an injured condition, while his alleged accomplices managed to escape from the scene. Both the wounded men were rushed to the hospital, but they were pronounced dead on arrival, he added.

The officer said the identity of the dead suspect was yet to be ascertained, adding that the police had found a pistol on his person.

2019 incidents

Around a dozen policemen had lost their lives in targeted attacks in the city the previous year. The victims included an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and 10 constables. One law enforcer was martyred in January, two in February, four in March, one in April, two in June and one in September, according to reports published in newspapers.

Traffic police warden Ehtisham was martyred in Soldier Bazaar on January 21. Policeman Farooq lost his life in Pak Colony on February 13. Former policeman Shafqat was attacked in Orangi Town on February 14.

PC Jahangir was martyred in Hijrat Colony on March 2. ASI Rizwan lost his life in the Iqbal Market area of Orangi Town on March 4. Also in Orangi Town’s Iqbal Market area, policeman Habibullah was attacked on March 9.

Policeman Farooq was martyred near Nipa Chowrangi on March 22. PC Khalid lost his life in the Defence Housing Authority on April 7. Constables Allah Dino and Ahmed Ali were attacked in the Mominabad area of Orangi Town on June 17.

Constable Syed Zeeshan Mian, 26, whose Rukhsati ceremony was scheduled to take place around a month later, embraced martyrdom on September 19 during a gunfight with three suspected criminals in Nazimabad.

‘Murder-suicide’

A man was suspected to have ended his life after murdering his wife on Monday afternoon. According to the Sharea Faisal police, engineer Rana Hadi Mubarik shot his wife Dr Kinza in the house of his parents in Block 14 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar after which he shot himself too.

As the police were called in, the couple were moved to a private hospital where they passed away during medical treatment. Ali Hassan Shaikh, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of the Sharea Faisal Division, said Hadi worked for a private firm and Dr Kinza was a doctor on call.

According to a preliminary investigation, the couple had fallen in love eight years ago and they were parents of a baby boy and a girl.

They chose to live as a nuclear family in their house, he said, adding that Kinza had parted ways with her family after the marriage.

A few days ago, SDPO Shaikh said, the couple had had a domestic dispute after which Hadi had left his wife at his parents’ home.

Allegedly, he added, the man killed Kinza when he came to see her at his parents’ home. Hadi shot at her head before shooting himself too, he said. A case has been registered and an investigation in under way.