Police yet to arrest muggers who shot dead matric student

Despite obtaining CCTV footage, police have yet to trace and arrest robbers who fatally shot a matriculation student in the Shershah area on Thursday.

Seventeen-year-old Deen Muhammad, son of Muhammad Siddiq, was seriously wounded for resisting a mugging bid near Tanga Stand on Thursday. He was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment on Friday.

Police confirmed that the victim was shot by muggers riding a motorcycle for putting up resistance to their attempt to snatch his mobile phone. They said the victim was a student of 10th grade, and a case had been registered at the Shershah police station.

Investigators have obtained CCTV footage of the incident, clearing showing the faces of the suspects. However, they have to trace and arrest the culprits. The family of the deceased has demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits, criticising the performance of law enforcement agencies. It has demanded that the culprits should be given a strict punishment.

Incidents of street crime are on the rise in the city despite the tall claims made by law enforcement agencies and the provincial government about taking effective measures to control the menace.

Last month, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had ordered a targeted operation against criminals involved in street crime, saying he wanted results from the law enforcement agencies within the next few weeks.

He had also ordered legislating for electronically tagging those who are involved in criminal activities despite being arrested and serving time in prison. The chief executive said that a number of people were habitual criminals, so they kept committing crimes. “I want electronic tagging of such criminals so that an eagle eye can be put on each of them.”

Electronic tagging is a system in which a criminal or suspected criminal has an electronic device attached to them that enables the police to know if they leave a particular area. Shah ahd said that over the past one and a half months a new surge of street crime had spread a wave of fear and insecurity across the city. “I usually tour the city in secret, during which I have hardly seen police or Rangers on roads or patrolling their respective areas,” he had said, adding that the situation was completely unacceptable.