One killed, another injured as police open fire on car in Karachi

KARACHI: One person was killed and another injured after policemen opened fire on a vehicle near Cantt Station in Karachi, capital of the Sindh province, ARY NEWS reported on Friday.

The victim has been identified as 40-year-old Nabil Hoodbhoy. His friend, the man who was injured in the attack, has been identified as Raza Imam.

The incident occurred in the wee hours on Friday and initially, the Karachi police claimed that they chased a vehicle and opened fire on it after the driver sped it away despite repeated warning shots.

However, the injured Raza Imam, who is linked with trade business, told police in his statement that he and his friend Nabil were returning to home after having a dine-in at a local restaurant in Khadda Market area of the city.

As soon as our vehicle reached Cantt Station, we were intercepted by a police van, he said. “The personnel opened fire without any warning,” he claimed and added that he was also unaware of police claims that they had fired warning shots while chasing them.

The family of the injured had blamed Karachi police for adopting delaying tactics while shifting the injured. “It took police an hour shift the two injured to a nearby hospital,” the mother of injured Imam said.

Deputy Inspector General Police (DIGP) South Sharjeel Kharal announced the arrest of the three policemen involved in the incident. “We have arrested a sub-inspector and two head constables,” he said and announced that a probe team under SSP Investigation South Rai Ijaz would investigate the matter.

The personnel have been identified as Sub-Inspector Abdul Ghaffar, Constable Muhammad Ali and Head Constable Aftab.

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“Aftab opened fire on the vehicle that claimed a life and injured another person,” the police official told media and assured that the personnel involved in it would now have to suffer the consequences of their actions.

A case is also registered at the Artillery Maidan police station against the three accused in view of the injured statement to police.  The Karachi police are also collecting evidence from the incident site in the form of CCTV footages and eye-witnesses account to ascertain the facts of the case.

Governor Sindh Imran Ismail while condemning the incident, summoned a report from Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Dr Kaleem Imam.

“The police needed some serious reforms in order to know how to treat civilians,” he said in a statement.