‘Mob justice’:‘Robber’ burnt alive by mob

Case to be registered against those who took law into their own hands

KARACHI: A young suspected robber was burnt to death by a mob in the outskirts of the metropolis on Sunday. Meanwhile, the police killed an alleged member of a ‘drug mafia’ and Rangers arrested four suspects, including a member of a political party, on Sunday.

A mob lynched a suspected robber in Landhi neighbourhood while he, along with his accomplice, attempted to rob a milk shop, which was foiled. The robbers opened fire at the shopkeeper when he offered resistance during the robbery.

However, the shopkeeper remained safe.



Following the gunshot noises, a large number of people gathered at the spot and managed to catch one of the suspected robbers. After severely torturing him, the mob burnt him alive. As a result, the robber had been killed before the police reached the site.

The police shifted the body to the Edhi morgue for identification purposes after medico-legal formalities were completed at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Zone East police chief DIG Arif Hanif said that a case will be registered against the mob for taking the law into their own hands instead of handing the robbers over to the police. However, no arrest has been made.

Exchange of fire

Separately, a suspected member of a drug mafia was killed and two policemen were wounded during an exchange of fire at Old Sabzi Mandi within the limits of the PIB Colony police station. The encounter took place when the police conducted a raid on a tip-off at the narcotics den run by Ahmed Ali Magsi, said police officials, adding that the mafia members opened fire at the police during the raid, injuring two policemen, Talat Asim and Noman Mazhar.

The police retaliated and killed the alleged member of the gang and injured two others. The deceased suspect was later identified as Saleem alias Tension while his injured accomplices managed to escape under the cover of fire.

Targeted raids

Meanwhile, Rangers conducted targeted raids in Jamshed Town, Lyari, New Karachi, Malir and Nazimabad on Sunday. According to the paramilitary spokesperson, the troops arrested four criminals including one belonging to the militant wing of a political party and another from a Lyari-based gang. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered, said the spokesperson.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2017.