In as many months: Second Careem driver killed

Police are analysing mobile data to track suspects who are still at large

ISLAMABAD: Weeks after a young driver of a ride-hailing service was killed in the capital, another driver of the service was gunned down by unidentified people in Rawalpindi late on Monday night.

A senior executive of the ride-hailing company has called for action from law enforcement agencies even as it called for a peaceful protest.

Police said that 22-year-old Sajawal Ameer, who was a captain with ride-hailing service Careem, had been shot five times by gunmen as they tried to snatch his car in the Lakhu area within the remits of the Naseerabad police station.

Officers said the victim had been left critically injured by assailants. He was rushed to a hospital where he died in the early hours of Tuesday.

An official from the Naseerabad police told The Express Tribune, that they believe the suspects had booked a ride on Careem’s ride-hailing mobile application. However, instead of using it to travel to their destination like its other customers, the assailants had planned to steal the car at gunpoint after it was ‘delivered’ to them.

Naseerabad police further said that the suspects had apparently tried to flee with Ameer’s car but since the vehicle had a tracker installed in it, its engine switched off after travelling outside of a pre-determined area.

This forced the assailants to abandon the vehicle and flee. The culprits, however, had reportedly stolen Ameer’s cash and his cell phones.

Officers say they have recovered the car and have registered a case against unidentified assailants.

However, a senior police officer said it was not confirmed whether those who had booked ride were the same ones who tried to snatch his car and then opened fire on him. Moreover, it was unclear at this point how many people were involved in the incident since no eyewitness had recorded their statement.

He added that they have collected data from the ride-hailing service and were investigating the case using mobile phone records.

Ameer hailed from the south Punjab district of Bhakkar and worked as a Careem captain in Rawalpindi-Islamabad.

Meanwhile, Careem, in a statement, urged the authorities to take “strict notice of these incidents and enhance efforts to drastically improve the safety of citizens.”

“We will vehemently take this case up through the legal channels… Most importantly, we will urge lawmakers to take note of this deteriorating security situation in Islamabad and immediately take steps to improve the situation,” a statement read, adding that due compensation will also be provided to Ameer’s family.

The ride-hailing service also announced to hold a peaceful gathering on Wednesday to protest against the attack on their drivers. Junaid Iqbal, the managing director of Careem Pakistan — while responding to queries on microblogging site Twitter, said that citizens are vulnerable to gun violence and that such a tragedy could happen to anybody.

“Statement won’t solve much — actions from LEA [law enforcement agencies] will,” he said.  In a separate response, he said that the service had provided ‘key data’ to law enforcers apart from extending legal, moral, emotional and financial assistance to families. Moreover, he added that they had approached the local MNA and were organising insurance for captains and their vehicles apart from looking for technology solutions to solve the issue.

“We have experienced Karachi for the last decade - gun crime can cripple a city. Sad the authorities do not care to notice the capital city is falling prey to crime,” he said in another tweeted response.

This is the second such incident in the twin cities in as many months. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2018.