KARACHI: Six armed robbers entered a home in Korangi early Wednesday morning, held the inmates hostage at gunpoint, snatched a large sum of cash, cell phones, and one bike beside other valuables and while fleeing, shot dead a teenager on a street outside, said police.
The deceased was identified as 17-year-old Mazhar Iqbal whose killing triggered an outcry, forcing the police authorities to suspend and demote the Zaman Town SHO and post in-charge.
A police spokesperson said that at around 6am, the robbers entered the home of Mohammed Zahid in Sector-51-C and took away gold ornaments, mobile phones, a large sum of cash and a motorcycle. And as they were fleeing after the loot, they fatally shot Mazhar on a street at some distance.
“Investigators are collecting evidence to establish a link between both the house robbery and murder of the youth while an investigation has been launched on technical basis,” said the spokesperson.
Moreover, the statement said Zaman Town SHO Rizwan Qureshi, Incharge police post Tasweer Mahal and head constable Noman Jatoi were reverted and suspended over their “failure to control crimes.”
Complainant Mohammed Zahid told police that at 6am, one robber entered his house from the roof side. He was wearing a mask and carrying a pistol in his hand. At gunpoint, the robber took him to a room and ordered him to sit on a charpoy.
In the meantime, three other robbers also entered the house. The four robbers then took him to another room where his wife and children were sleeping. They made all the family members hostage in a room by putting a quilt on their faces and opened the main gate from where their two more accomplices came in.
They started searching the room and left at around 6:50am. The family thereafter checked their valuables and found that three tola gold, six cell phones, Rs450,000 cash and one motorcycle parked in the courtyard were missing.
The complainant said that five suspects wore shalwar kameez while one was wearing pants.
Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2025
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