KARACHI: A police constable was wounded in Saeedabad when he along with his colleague was chasing two bandits, who were running away after looting a pedestrian on Thursday, officials said.

They said the two constables associated with the Sindh Reserve Police were having lunch in Saeedabad at a roadside eatery when they spotted two men on a motorbike intercepting a pedestrian and then speeding away.

“The policemen sensed something wrong and when they came to know through the pedestrian that the men on the motorbike were armed and had snatched Rs50,000 he had just withdrawn from the bank from him, they went after the robbers,” said Inspector Salim Rind, the SHO of the Madina Colony police station.

“The policemen followed the robbers on their motorbike and finally trapped them in one of the narrow lanes. But the alleged robbers opened fire on the policemen and wounded one of them and sped away.”

The injured constable was identified as Ameer Ali, who was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he was said to be out of danger. Sindh IG Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar taking notice of the incident sought a detailed report from SSP Keamari.

The IG directed the officers concerned to take all possible measures to apprehend the culprits involved in the incident.

“He has also ordered to ensure best treatment facilities for the injured policeman,” said a statement issued by the Central Police Office.

Two fire incidents

Meanwhile, in two separate fire incidents, a chemical warehouse near Denso Hall and a carton manufacturing unit in Gulshan-i-Iqbal left goods worth millions of rupees badly damaged. A fire broke out at a cardboard factory near Aziz Bhatti Park and spread to the next-door facility but timely intervention of firefighters contained the blaze.

Fire brigade officials said that the fire broke out at the factory and engulfed the entire establishment quickly. The fire erupted while the employees of the facility were at work but sensing danger, they vacated the building and called for help.

“Four fire engines were immediately sent to the site and the firefighters managed to control the blaze after hectic efforts of four hours. They were backed up by five water bowsers,” he said adding that the cause of the fire was not yet determined, but it had destroyed almost all raw material stored in the facility.

At Denso Hall, the fire broke out in a warehouse of chemicals and plastic products kept in separate compartments of the facility.

“Although fire engines reached within time, yet the fire spread rapidly engulfing almost the whole warehouse,” said an official.

“The chemical godown was located inside congested and crowded locality, but thankfully the fire was controlled, otherwise much destruction would have happened. All the people in the commercial area were taken to safety and more fire engines were called in for help. Three fire engines continued the cooling work.”

The exact cause of the fire at both the facilities was not known yet, said the fire official, adding that history suggested that vulnerable electricity wiring caused a short circuit which led to such blazes.

Secondly, he said, facilities with wooden material were always at risk of fire amid the current weather conditions which included gusty winds and low humidity.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2021