Police remain clueless as victim fights for life

Brother of injured man says the family is going through hell

LAHORE: The family of a young man, who was critically injured while resisting a robbery, is still awaiting justice, while the victim is battling for his life on a ventilator at hospital.

On Saturday, the brother of the critically wounded sole bread-earner of his family says he is “going through hell”— as are the rest of the victim’s relatives.

The investigation officer of the case, Shamsul Hassan, said they conducted interviews with family members and the father of the victim who was a witness to the crime.

He added CCTV footage from a CNG pump, around which the incident took place, was obtained and they were working on the case consistently, but were yet to make a breakthrough.

Kashif, the victim, ran a currency exchange shop in Naulakha Bazaar and lived few just a few kilometres away from his shop. On Wednesday, he closed for the day and was headed home with his father on a bike.

As they neared a CNG pump, a few yards away from Naulakha police station, two unidentified suspects with their faces hidden, ambushed the two men. The victim had put a bag filled with currency on the side of his bike and the suspects tried to snatch it.

The bandits tried to pull the bag towards them, while the victim offered resistance. That is when matters took a turn for the worse as one of the gunmen whipped out his pistol and shot the victim.

Rashid, the brother, said they aimed towards the chest of Kashif who put his hand up in defence. The fired bullet pierced the palm and embedded in the victim’s chest. The suspects managed to flee from the scene and police have made no headway since in arresting him.

Rashid said his father was an old man and lost his senses after seeing his son shot before his very own eyes. He said the screams and blood splashes were too much for the father to bear.

He said the elderly individual was so confused that he rushed his son to the hospital in a rickshaw instead of calling Rescue 1122 for help

“Since then my brother has been admitted there and these days are nothing short of hell for us,” Rashid said.

“Every second of seeing my brother on the ventilator is tormenting for the soul.  My father has not recovered from the shock despite three days having passed. He often starts weeping when remembering the episode,” Rashid shared.

A case (FIR No. 339/17) was registered against unidentified suspects under Section 394 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

A week ago, the 60-year-old cashier of a private company, Qaiser, was shot dead at Kot Lakhpat as he was delivering cash in a van.

A case for murder during robbery was registered against unidentified suspects, but police had yet to make any headway in this case as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2017.