After delaying clothes order, tailor kills customer

The teenager shot the client when he started swearing at him.

ISLAMABAD:

A young tailor killed a client after exchange of hot words over delay in the completion of Eid clothes on late Monday night.

The Bani Gala police said the pistol with which Muhammad Zeeshan, 16, a resident of Mohra Noor village, shot Shah Nawaz was not licensed. “The quarrel would not have turned ugly if the boy did not have the gun,” said a police officer investigating the case.

The police investigation officer said Nawaz placed an order for a pair of shalwar kameez with Zeeshan, who then failed to complete the order by the promised date.

The tailor asked Nawaz to come back in three days, but three days later on Monday night, the client was given another excuse for his clothes not being ready. Nawaz lost his patience and started verbally abusing the tailor while demanding the fabric for his clothes back.

Eyewitnesses said that initially, the boy kept asking for more time after which Nawaz started “scolding him and used foul language”. This might have agitated the boy, said a police officer.

The tailor pulled out a gun when the expletives started, however Nawaz continued swearing at the boy, who then fired a single shot, killing Nawaz on the spot.

Zeeshan escaped from the scene with his gun. Police said his whereabouts were not known, however, investigations were underway to trace him.

A murder case was registered with the Bani Gala police on the complaint of Nawaz’s cousin, Zaheer Ahmed.

The police said the boy was underage and could not legally keep a firearm with him.

Witnesses told the police that the boy drew the weapon at a time when people were trying to intervene and stop the two from exchanging blows.

Zeeshan scared them away when he pulled out a gun, said an eye witness.

The police were not sure where the boy had obtained the gun from. Zeeshan’s family did not know that he had a pistol, an official added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2012.