‘Mob justice’ for robbery suspect

In a stark incidence of mob justice, injured suspects lying on the ground were shot in cold blood by a citizen. One of the injured suspects later died during treatment at a hospital, police said.

As per police, two suspected robbers were lynched by citizens as they tried to flee after looting a mobile phones shop in the Azizabad area on Sunday.

The suspects were severely beaten up by the citizens before they were injured by bullets fired by an unidentified person. A police mobile squad responding to a distress call on 15 rushed to the spot and cleared the mob. Police shifted the injured suspects to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where one of them died during treatment.

Police said that the area people refused to name the man seen in a mobile phone video firing shots with a pistol on the suspected robbers lying on the ground.

According to information received from the area, the two suspected robbers were fleeing after looting cash at gunpoint from a mobile phone shop in Karimabad.

While fleeing, they tried to dodge the mob by changing their ride and dumped their motorcycle at a mechanic's shop and snatched another motorbike from a citizen. But the citizens chasing them knocked down their bike and overpowered them.

The mob, enraged by recurrent acts of robberies, started beating the suspects mercilessly, in the meanwhile a so far unidentified person fired three shots at the suspects who were lying injured on the road. He disappeared from the scene before a police team arrived.

The police team shifted the injured suspects to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where one of them died of his injuries during treatment. The second suspect is under treatment at the hospital.

Police have found three bullet casings at the crime scene while one handgun, four bullets and the stolen motorcycle were also recovered from the suspects.

Azizabad police station SHO Kamran Haider said the identity of the man who fired shots was immediately not clear. He also said that the suspected robbers have not been identified. Further investigation is in progress.

Later, Central SSP Rana Maruf Usman said that the deceased robber was identified as Qasim while the injured as Azam. Both of them were residents of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Quaid-i-Azam Colony, he said adding police are checking their criminal records.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2022.