File photo of Hamza Ahmed.
Hamza was shot in Khayaban-e-Seher of the Defence Housing Authority allegedly by the guard when he went to meet Shoaib, a student of Bay View Academy. Both the boys were reportedly involved in a dispute over a girl, M, who was said to be Hamza’s girlfriend. After the shooting, Shoaib and his family surrendered themselves to the police but the guard was nowhere to be found.
Shoaib was produced before the court on Sunday and the police was granted a five-day physical remand.
The question remains of whether Shoaib asked his guard to kill Hamza - as narrated by the deceased’s friends who were with him - or did the guard open fire without any instructions after getting into a scuffle with Hamza - as argued by Shoaib’s father. Police have reportedly obtained the CCTV footage from Downtown Café where Hamza was killed but have been unable to find any answers.
Station Investigation Officer, Aleem Kolachi, however, said that the footage hasn’t been much help. “Unfortunately the incident took place outside the camera’s range,” he told The Express Tribune. “If the killing had been recorded, it would have made it easier for us to solve the case and to incriminate the suspects in court.”
He added that the investigation was in its preliminary stages. The police have contacted the mobile networks for call records of Hamza, Shoaib and M. He said that the police will also record the statement of M.
Guard on the run
According to the investigation officer, the police have some clues about the location of the security guard who fled from the scene and raids for his arrest were being carried out. A 9mm pistol that was used in the murder and was later seized by the police will be sent to the forensic division of the Sindh police today (Monday) to match the bullets and the pistol. Major (retired) Khurshid, an official of the Kardesler Security Company Private Limited which hired Amal, told The Express Tribune that they were also investigating the incident and the company would be able to officially comment on the matter once the investigations were concluded.
When he was told that the security company’s client, Shoaib’s father Naveed Ahmed, had categorically held the guard, Amal, liable for breach of conduct in his conversation with The Express Tribune, Major (retired) Khurshid refused to comment and said that the newspaper could quote the client’s version. He, however, added that the accused security guard was employed through the company’s regular procedure of employment. “Like all the Kardesler’s security guards, the ex-Pakistan Army soldier was hired after proper verification and training.”
When asked about a news report published last year in a newspaper, saying that the Kardesler was among the 138 private security companies across the country that were operating without licences, Major (retired) Khurshid termed the report ‘nonsensical’ and ‘bogus’. “That is how media negatively changes the public opinion with their half-baked news stories. I will drag the newspaper to the courts,” said the apparently incensed former military officer. “How could we be blamed with expiry of the licence when we had just started operations in 2012.”
Prayers for the deceased
Hamza’s funeral prayers were offered at Masjid Umer-e-Farooq in Phase VI, DHA after Zuhr prayers. The funeral was attended by his relatives, friends and neighbours. He was buried at the DHA Graveyard. Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s leader, Babar Ghauri, also attended the funeral.
The deceased’s father, Talib Sohail Ahmed, told The Express Tribune that he will never forgive those responsible for his son’s killing. “Till the time we don’t put an end to this guard culture, our children, like Shahzeb Khan and Hamza, will keep getting killed,” he said. “We will have to unite to stand up against such people - there is no other option.”
He said that he has been satisfied with the police’s performance up till now but could not say what would happen in the coming days. “If the police can arrest the boy [Shoaib], then why not the guard? I will seek justice for my son till my last breath.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2013.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Shoaib's school as Bay View High School.
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COMMENTS (51)
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@Iqbal Hadi Zaidi first on all, no body is trying to play hide and seek with you! This is a open forum where everyone and anyone can share his/her opinion. I just told you what I thought you were portraying.. And it sure does look like your pointing fingers at the girl !!! How is it the girls fault when she probably doesn't even had a clue that the dumb kid will take somebody's life over nothing!!! and by the way I am Miss Az and not Mr.AZ :)
Santa Banta! You must identify yourself to the extent I have identified myself or do not comment on me. You comment and communicate with those only who hide like you. Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / iqbalhadizaidi.formerdiplomat@hotmail,com
@Iqbal Hadi Zaidi: What does me having to disclose my identity have to do with anything. Its rather irrelavent. You pointing this out just shows shallowness on your side that you cant actually contradict the points I have made. My name, ethnic background, nationality, sex, race, religion etc. has no bearing on the points being discussed. Do you think you having former diplomat in your email makes you right ? Even if you were a diplomat, there is no need to advertise it to the rest of us. It just makes the rest of us question how fair and merit based the selection process of diplomats actually is given your comments. In anycase please discuss the issue not my identity.
How do you know if Shoib's parents were not aware of him having a girlfriend? Please dont try to put your moral compass on others. There are a world full of teenagers that have boyfriends and girlfriends but are not murdering each other. Shoib was neither married, nor did he have any children and was a TEENAGER. The culture of everyone having armed guards has led to this death not teenage dating. Im not saying teenage dating should happen or shouldnt happen. That is rather irrelevant in this case cause whatever it maybe, a teenager getting murdered for this is not justifiable.
Equating parents and grand parents (who are married and have children) to having girlfriends/boyfriends to a teenager is just plain stuipidity. Its like comparing apples to oranges. Also it is none of my or your business as to what people do in their personal lives. Please continue to live in your world but its so far from reallity it isnt even funny.
I repeat we dont know what exactly happened. Emotions could have run high and the situation could have spiralled out of control. Please for the sake of the family of the boy who lost his life show some sense and compassion. Cause he was murdered for what is a non-issue in most of the civilised world. I guess the rest of the world is stupid and you are right.
Hope the moderators let this through.
Finally a fact-centered piece on the incident instead of the usual fabrications! It is extremely distressing to see that quite a few of the comments above fail to take into account that an innocent life was lost. Im sick of people trying to belittle this child's death by suggesting that having a grilfriend could only lead to this end. If that was really the case half the world would be dead by now. It does not matter if he had a girlfirend or was a "party animal" as people are trying to insinuate. He did not die because of these reasons, he died because we as a nation have fogotten the value of human life and have failed miserably to set an example of accountability (as evident by the Shahzeb Khan case). See how easy it was for someone to kill a person and not be held accountable? what a brilliant example we are setting for our kids.
@Khurram: what if he was reading a physics book and suddenly an apple would fall on his head and he would die? would then romanticising/fliritng with a girl instead of reading be OK with you? What a lol-type question you asked mate.
One simple question. Why was this 16 year old romanticizing and flirting around with a girl rather than reading Mathematics and Physics?
@Iqbal Hadi Zaidi: you are implying that since shoiab/hamza had a gf his parents deserved this humiliation: "if they feel proud on it then they deserve public humiliation. Why all those who commented have ignored it?"
a 17 year old has died and these are your thoughts on it ? really? sick.
i believe both boys are innocent ,May Allah help both families, these private guards, are not educated, they don't use their brains /intelligence at all, educated guards should be hired, or these illiterate guards should be given proper guidelines and education , short course should be started by universities and colleges or police academy for the education and training or guards, each individual guard should obtain professional licence after completion of courses and then to be eligible to work for security company
Wake Up, you must wake up before commenting and avoid commenting while asleep. What stops you to pen your identity like I do?. Just ask Shoaib's father how did he feel when he came to know that his son had girl friend which led to his murder. Many are justifying to have girl / boy friend and to all of them may I ask, if not annoying, if their grandparents and parents also had girl / boy friends? Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / iqbalhadizaidi.formerdiplomat@hotmail.com
@Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur: You Sir, are the one who raised the questions about ethnicity in your original comment and then accused the commentators of racism. My words were merely a reflection of your own comments. Yes you are right that a murder is a murder, but it kind of sounds like "a degree is a degree line". Both kids were murdered but one accused tried his best to use his influence and power to go free while the other voluntarily turned himself in. Do you think that Shoaib's parents could not have at least tried to hide their son? Why do you believe that they did not have the opportunity to do so? I know that they are fairly wealthy and could have done a lot to buy the Police or hide their son.
@ayesha: @Iqbal Hadi Zaidi: @javaid iqbal randhawa: God help Pakistan with people like you. So cause someone has girlfriend they deserve to be killed. Open your eyes and stop this insanity. Im not saying he didnt do something wrong or was at fault. NO ONE DESERVES DEATH for having a girlfriend. I dont want to pass judgement cause none of us know what actually transpired. I would like to pray for his family and hope they can cope with losing a loved one at such a tender age..
Western culture didnt pull the trigger. You can try to blame western culture for causing the this but it is utter insanity to justify someone being shot/killed for this reason. Whether this is Pakistans culture or not is irrelevant.
Reading comments like yours just leaves me speechless and makes one wonder where actually this country is heading.
@javaid iqbal randhawa: So you mean to say none of thus would have happened if he didnt have a girlfriend? What about shahzeb khan ? I dont recall him fighting for his girlfriend? Or those two brothers from lyari. This happened because some people simply feel that they have the right to take a life! Regardless of what hamzah did then or in the past if he was unarmed no one had the right to shoot him. Plus since i think a month now section 144 is in order. All permits have been cancelled. So the guard was carrying the weapon illegally
@Billoo Bhaya: With all due respect to you. Have you been to downtown cafe? This happened outside not inside. So it is very likely that the scene was out of the camera's range.
@dinga: Lets say for a minute that he really was spoiled. Does that give anyone the right to murder him?
he looks kinda spoiled kid to me , guard must have taken revenge from him !
@MJ Murder is a murder absconding to Dubai or turning one in due to lack of opportunity doesn't diminish the crime. For one there is baying for blood and for the other apologies and yet you accuse me of ethnicity.
Where in Pakistan women are stoned to death. Please do not bring this case to negative side. It is matter of teen age persons who are involved in girlfriend scenario which is not acceptable by our culture. Parents used to be busy in their business and young generation is free to get influenced by western culture so Rehman Malik was correct that in Karachi killing was done for girl friends or by girl friends.
Mr. AZ. You must completely personify yourself if wish to comment like I do instead of playing hide and seek. From time immemorial countless have been killed either due to woman and hence I advised that parents must guard their children and do not allow them to have girl / boy friend. Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / iqbalhadizaidi.formerdiplomat@hotmail.com
@Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur: I think you yourself are the one blinded by hate and ethnic divisions. In Shahzeb's case the accused absconded and was smuggled to Dubai. In this case the parents and Shoaib turned themselves in to the Police. Do you see any difference here?
@Arif: Have been about quite a bit but have not yet heard of any woman being stoned in the West. This normally happens in places like Afghanistan, Iran ... (get the drift?).
And linking beating and harrassing women with men being drunk is lame: Or are all the men in Pakistan who beat and molest women drunk too?
@ayesha: it is just such a pity that you are using a very personal tragedy to prove your ideologies! I wonder if God forbid you lose your your loved one, will you be able to use that very sad incident, too to prove what you think is right? such shame and on those 40 odd heartless people who recommended your comment, too.
@speakthetruth: this guard company is owned by shoaib s nana.
In Shahzeb case I hope that killer is punished as per law, come what may happen. In those days I wrote that it is not important who is killed and response of society is based upon who the killer is. Strange,response is based upon visceral hatred. If killer at this time was from Baloch or Sindi response would bave been different and possibly CJ has taken suo moto. One of the ET editor wrote a op-ed which was fill of ethnic bias! anchors spewed venom agaist Sindhies. jatoi was called a feudal lord who he is not, labelled PPP man who he is not. He is a petty bussiness man- like parents of these two teen agers. Teenagers are impulsive everywhere whether they are Sindhies, Punjabies or Muhajir. Jatoie was 19 still in the same age range. This phenomenon of filthy rich fights( including all ethnicities) is every day business in cliffton and defecne and no FIRs are enetered as next day their elders settle the issues. Please don't judge these cases on ethnicity. I pray in both cases jatoi and shoaib, killers are punished with maximum sentence after due process.
This is so sad, I feel bad for the poor kid. Such a ridiculous reason to take somebody's life. @Iqbal Hadi Zaidi whats wrong in keeping a girl friend, it sure seems like your trying to portray that the boy deserved to die because he had a girl friend !!! I'm sorry but it's just sick..
@ayesha: For Gods sake a 17 year old boy has been killed,and we are taking of taboo and teen age marriages, where are we going.
@Mehran:
Excellent observation!
@Iqbal Hadi Zaidi: Its sad to see comments as such coming from twisted people like yourself. Whats wrong in keeping a female friend? Please indicate where in your religion is it written that male and female cant be friends? The young boy stood up to his female friend who was being HARASSED. Or did you MISS THAT? Or perhaps in YOUR world its not okay to be friends with females because they (females) are meant to be stoned, beaten and harassed. You need help friend.
@Iqbal Hadi Zaidi, bhaijaan since when is it illegal and immoral to have a girlfriend?
It is very sad to hear that we hv lost two growing young men. One was killed and other will suffer from mental truma for his whole life. Only parents of both the childerns are responsible for this incident.
@RKM: Your words are very true. It is heartbreaking to just look at the boy's picture and think about a precious life being lost. What a waste and over such a useless issue. All Pakistanis need to soften their hearts for each other. One doesn't have to fight out every dispute. Every issue does need a warrior. And we need to be more careful about what we let our children learn. If we teach them the right things, they won't be left to others to teach them the wrong things.
@Me
Couldn't agree with you more on this. While every life is precious and every killing of an innocent person is detestable, I just wish we valued all lives the same amount.
at 17 if i was in Karachi, i too would be having a girlfriend.......! NGOs and civil right guys dont take it as an issue...but if the girl was some where in up north she too would have been buried with the guy...along with his rival..in many cases...
The problem in Pakistan is that village wadera/jageerdar/feudal/tribal/sardar culture is spreading in Urban centres whereas in foriegn countries City culture influence & spread in rural areas - Syed Mustafa Kamal Ex Mayor Karachi
Guard on the run: The security company might have be hiding the guard, since he has proved that the security company is prompt in its duties and will never let down its clients.
@Mehran: Because the last incident on Shahbaz was a feudal show of power. This one is not a feudal incident but that of a trigger happy guard and superfluous teenagers. Get your facts right.
Most likely the gun was snatched by the boy from the guard, or in most cases the boy ordered the guard for his gun. shot the poor boy. Scared the guard that he will be blamed. Offcourse the poor gusrd who will have no say, but to abide what the master says, RAN for his life, ran from the boys father who would harm him for being poor, RAN from the police who will place all blame on him to protect the boy, RAN from media who would harras him with their own cooked up stories.
CCTV footage is tthee, awaiting highest bidder.
Shahzeb's case was supposed to, and should have, set an example of justice served. As long as we keep turning a blind eye and eventually forgetting and ignoring these cases, they WILL continue to happen.
Even after reporting the error in yesterday's edition, ET's staff correspondent has yet again stated in today's newspaper (Monday April 29th) that Shoaib is a student at Bay View High School. This is factually wrong. Shoaib is not a student at Bay View High. Your incorrect reporting may create misconceptions about the school. Needless to say, I am deeply saddened by this incident and have deepest sympathies for the affected families.
There is a very selective approach by media even when the nature of incidents is the same. In Hamza's tragic case no one is baying for blood of those responsible as was in case of Shahzeb. The Supreme Court doesn't seem to have heard of the case or is not doing a suo motu as it did in Shahzeb's case. Certainly Shoaib's father too is rich and influential but of a different ethnicity so no hue and cry. To put it briefly the attitudes here certainly are racist in nature and substance. Sad indeed.
To me the Shoaib's father must feel ashamed knowing that his son had a girl friend which is main cause of his murder. How could he as father allow his teenager to have girl friend and under which legal, moral or religious terms & conditions? I wonder how he can face those who are coming to him offering condolences. Isn't it very high time that parents keep an eye on their children, both male and female, not to allow them keeping girl / boy friends but if they feel proud on it then they deserve public humiliation. Why all those who commented have ignored it? Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait / iqbalhadizaidi.formerdiplomat@hotmail.com
@Me: only 3 % and its class matters. The rest just serve us.
@Mehran: Correction: Shoaib's family were not Urdu Speaking.
Why not now ET make a headline stating like they did during Shahzeb muder case by flaring ethnic hate "Murdered in cold blood: For Sindh's feudals, Karachi lives come cheap". Why dont you now say "Murdered in cold blood: For Karachi's Urdu Speaking Business Man, Karachi lives come cheap too"?? Are ET good at sticking to one community by stereotyping Sindhi Feudals creating more hate? Please show some courage and accept my comments.
teenagers can have girl/boy friend then why teenage marriage is still a taboo ?
THE boy's guard was hired from a security agency,who is not a wadero's son, thus the perception given that the guard was totally devoted and owed his allegiance to this boy is ludicrous. A fair idea of the guard's personality can be made from his past employment record, making it not too difficult to gather whether the guard opened fire with or without his master's permission. No excuses should be given by the AUTHORITIES.
Quote: "Police have reportedly obtained the CCTV footage from Downtown Café where Hamza was killed but have been unable to find any answers." This says it all. Bidding is open and whoever pays the highest will find the answers. Police don't give a damn for young Romeo's or their Juliet or for their families, Montagues and Capulets. What more can be said.
Every story has two sides. In this case the world will never know the other side of the story as it was buried today with Hamza. Hence, only one thing can be said for certain - to repeat Hamza's father 'Till the time we don’t put an end to this guard culture, our children, like Shahzeb Khan and Hamza, will keep getting killed'.
This nation is become increasingly trigger-happy. And that terrifies me as my life, and the life of my loved ones, is in the careless hands and rather arbitrary whim of uneducated "jaahil" men.
WAKE UP PAKISTAN. This is ridiculous and must stop.
Hey guys, did you try to find out the name of that seven year old child died in Swabi blast today?
These are really sad state of affairs for Pakistan. This Shoaib guy, who must be 11 years old when the last government came. During these five years when he was growing up, what he must have learnt is that one can easily kill anybody and get away with, as we have seen with numerous cases. This is really dangerous for this generation. I am not trying being a regular basher of the last government, but you can not avoid this fact. And will take some time to make them realise that this is not the way things happen in normal world. God bless Pakistan.