Three homeless labourers killed while they slept in Clifton park

Victims were hit on the heads with a blunt object which caused their deaths

KARACHI: Three homeless persons were killed while they slept in a public park in Clifton on Thursday. The victims were hit on the head with a heavy, blunt object, which resulted in their deaths.

Police have identified two of the victims, while the identity of the third has yet to be ascertained. According to police, the victims were daily-wage labourers and were sleeping in the park.

The bodies were found from Beach View Park located in front of Bakhtawar Tower, Clifton Block 2, in the jurisdiction of Boat Basin Police Station on Thursday morning. Police officials reached the spot on receiving information of the incident and shifted the bodies to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in Chhipa ambulances.

Two of the victims have been identified as 54-year-old Ali Hassan, son of Tanveer Hassan, and 53-year-old Amsheer Afzal, son of Sher Afzal, through the identity cards found on their person.

Ali Hassan hailed from Faisalabad and Amsheer Afzal hailed from Mardan. No documentation was found from the possession of the third victim.

South SSP Sheeraz Nazir told The Express Tribune that initial investigation has revealed that the deceased men were homeless labourers and had slept in the Beach View Park the previous night. The perpetrators likely killed them by striking their heads with a heavy object or stone.

South Investigation-1 SSP Tariq Dharejo told the media that the police had received a complaint regarding the presence of a body in the park. Operations and investigation teams reached the spot and searched the whole park. The investigators found two more bodies at different spots. The investigators immediately summoned the forensics team to the crime scene, where the latter gathered fingerprints and other evidence from the park.

He added that the victims were labourers and had come to spend the night under a canopy at the Beach View Park to stay safe from the rain. The park is mostly isolated and there are no arrangements for its maintenance and upkeep.

SSP Dharejo said that several teams have been constituted to investigate the case from multiple angles. Police will also try to identify who used to visit the park as well as the backgrounds of the deceased labourers.

According to SSP Dharejo, it seemed that the victims were killed by striking their heads with a heavy object, but the actual cause of death will only be determined after the medical examiner’s report.

He added that one of the victims was likely a wood polisher as his equipment was found in a bag next to the body. The second victim was a mason, he said, adding that the police were still unsure of the identity or profession of the third victim.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2019.