KARACHI: Two people were electrocuted in as many incidents in the city on Tuesday, officials and rescuers said.

A man, identified as Gulzada, was electrocuted in Sherpao Colony of Landhi inside his home. The body of the 42-year-old victim was handed over to the family after medico-legal formalities at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

In the second incident, a teenage boy died from electrocution in Defence.

The area police said that 19-year-old Mohammad Faizan suffered an electric shock near Masjid-i-Zubair in DHA Phase VII which proved fatal. His body was also shifted to the JPMC.

KE chief booked for manslaughter

The chief executive officer of the K-Electric along with senior management of the power utility was booked in a manslaughter case.

A relative of one of the victims lodges FIR against KE chief Alvi

Police said an application was received from the paternal uncle of Faizan, the teenager who died from electrocution. The Defence police turned the application into an FIR which blamed KE CEO Moonis Alvi and his senior colleagues — distribution head Amir Zia, senior security officer of the company’s DHA office Fahim and assistant manager of the same facility Owais — for his death.

“According to the FIR’s content the negligence of the company led to the incident,” said a police official. “The teenage boy lost his life in Defence Phase VII due to electrocution near a KE substation. The KE management has been booked under Section 322 (punishment for qatl bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code.”

Two ‘bandits’ held

Police arrested two suspected dacoits after a shootout in the Seaview area that also left a police constable injured.

Officials said that a police patrol spotted a couple of suspects travelling in a rickshaw.

“As the police tried to stop them, the people inside the rickshaw opened fire. The firing was so intense that the police were forced to stop their chase. However, after a brief break the police chased the rickshaw,” said an official.

Near the Omar Shareef Park, he said, the police found the abandoned rickshaw and it was clear that the suspects were fleeing on foot. After a hectic chase, the police spotted the suspects in a street near Marine Drive, he added.

“Our mobile rushed to the site and cordoned off the street,” said the official. “The suspects, who later turned out to be bandits, were armed and after finding themselves trapped fired at the police party. Constable Deedar Hussain was injured when he was hit in the arm. Both the suspects identified as M. Shafqat alias Shanto and M. Shakeel were arrested with arms.”

Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar announced a cash reward of Rs50,000 for the injured constable.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2020