Deceased Hamza Ahmed .
Hamza lost his life on April 27 in an alleged shooting incident in Khayaban-e-Sehar in DHA, within the jurisdiction of the Darakshan police station. He had reportedly met Shoaib Naveed Ahmed and his guard outside Downtown café to settle a dispute involving his girlfriend, M*. The argument got heated and Hamza reportedly slapped Shoaib. In retaliation, Shoab’s guard, Amal Khan, allegedly shot and killed Hamza.
So far, only Shoaib is in police custody while Khan is still at large. Investigators have, however, managed to trace the guard’s whereabouts with the help of data obtained from the private security company which he had been employed for over five years. Khan had served Shoaib’s family for three months at the time of the incident. He didn’t have a criminal record since he arrived in city from his hometown in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Clifton SP Sarfaraz Nawaz said, “It seems as if the guard has run away to his hometown. We are in touch with the KP police. Hopefully, he will be arrested soon.”
But police investigators have hit some hurdles. M - the girl over which the argument allegedly broke out - has said that she had not been in touch with the accused or the deceased for over four months. According to SP Nawaz, M said that Shoaib never teased her. There were three more eyewitnesses who were Hamza’s friends.
A senior police officer said law enforcers have obtained Hamza’s mobile phone records as well as those of Shoaib and M. The weapon used in the killing has been analysed, but the officer did not divulge the details of the forensic report. He added that the case is being investigated very carefully.
In search of justice
Hamza’s family has also started making claims that it was not the security guard but Shoaib who shot and killed him. While talking to The Express Tribune, Talib Sohail Ahmed, Hamza’s father, said, “I can’t believe that the guard - a trained ex-army personnel - could behave in such a manner.”
He also claimed that the three eyewitnesses have not been truthful. “They told me one thing and the police something else. God knows what has happened. But if the police want, it can even turn an elephant into a peacock.”
Hamza’s relatives also claim that Shoaib’s family is influential and is pulling strings to make the police favour Shoaib, giving him a VVIP protocol in the police station. “According to Shoaib, Hamza slapped him as soon as he reached the spot and so he backed away in fear,” said Talib. “What we should question is that if one teenager [Shoaib] got scared from another over a slap, then why hasn’t the police been able to get the facts from him?”
Meanwhile, Shoaib was brought to court on Monday where his remand was extended till May 9.
*Name changed to protect privacy
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.
COMMENTS (17)
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@Final SOlution: Not very common to see ex-Army personnel shooting and killing others so your point about "trigger happy" army personnel is not only wrong but also devoid of reality. A bigger possibility is that the poor jawan is being scapegoated by the high and mighty for the crimes of their own son.
For those idiots claiming Hamza may not be innocent, regardless of the argument or the wrong he may have done (such as slapping Shoaib first), he did not deserve to get shot and killed for the slap or any other excess.
@aliya: So you think petty details such as industrialists fathers guard or his kids guard matter in such sober situations? You would take a guard to meet up with a girl friend of yours from SCHOOL who you have had a tiff with? Girk you need your head checked. THIS IS NOT HOW CIVIL SOCIETY OPERATES. now you are saying its the GUARDS FAULT he could not RESOLVE the situation?! So an underpaid ex army person from a underprivilged background with no education to speak of and no sense of morality ethics and justice in a civilized world because he has no rights as a poor person in a country that denies him basic human rights...so this guy should UPHOLD GOOD SENSE AND MORALITY. not hamza or shoiab whocome from educated families with ipads, world travel, good education and lifes aamenities at their disposal. You need a wake up call. Oh wait this was one and youre still sleeping.
"But if the police want, it can even turn an elephant into a peacock"
Says a LOT, doesn't it?
And in the Shahrukh Jatoi case, this is EXACTLY what the police did - and WHO is the victim's father? Oh yeah... a DSP... and he's a witness.... and he's ALSO on the Investigation case.... it was HIM who "found" the gun, NOT the (former) IO yet the (former) IO testified it was himself who recovered the UNREGISTERED gun!.... Police corruption at it's finest!
Good luck, Shoaib - you are going to need it!
Oh, and expect your medical to come back saying you are 19 years of age, and your case will be transferred to the ATC also ;) A corrupt precedent has been set!
There is no harm in being rich or keeping guards; but with the rapid expansion of private guards one needs to be cognizant of its associated governance issues. Quality of training is always questionable; not to forget these guards are also humans with a mind and impuls of their own (bear in mind salman taseer's case). There are 'convincing' stories on both sides, but we should wait for completion of investigation and revelation of facts before basing allegations. Sentiments are indeed high at this point. One should have faith in the institutions and process (of police) and await some outcome. If outcomes are not convincing, there are higher authorities of courts to challenge them. Frankly, many of us will have some contacts in institutions related to investigations and facts will leak out to the commons. The crime is heinous and even our religion demands establishmen of proper basis and punishment. What is worth pondering for now, though, is this dangerous mix of youngster fights along with private/personal guards. As a society we need to rethink if we have the right checks when we weaponize our lifestyles.
the fact is a precious life has been lost. Someone pulled the trigger. Justice should be done, All these string pulling and palm greasing should not let a murder go unpunished. Its a test case for the Police.
ali do you live in pakistan? i see nothing wrong with traveling with an armed guard in karachi. also one should clarify - the guard was not shoaibs, it was his fathers. if i were going to settle an argument and didnt know who would be coming from the opposing side, i too would tak ea guard.
come on people dont be so critical. think about it as if it wereyou. this whole "why did he have a guard" and "shoaib is a murderer" is all ridiculous. the question is not why he had a guard but why the guard actually shot when hamza said "shoot me" and why he hadnt been trained by his company to resolve such matters.
A classic case of a fight gone bad!
The kids in Karachi are too trigger happy .... what happened to a good ol fist fight!
Regardless of how badly this situation turned out, one thing is clear - there's a huge parenting fail on both sides. 16-year-olds running around with personal armed guards and getting into deadly feuds over girlfriends? Does anyone else fail to see what's wrong here to begin with?
Hamza’s father, said, “I can’t believe that the guard – a trained ex-army personnel – could behave in such a manner.”
Itchy trigger happy army personnel more likely
Who else will be bought by Shoaib's family? So far they have filled every mouth with money to distort the events. It is in their best interest that the guard is never found because no one would want a life sentence on behalf of anyone.
@Saleem: He got killed. Of course he was innocent! Is that not enough of a reason to want to arrest the murderer instead of this 'who was innocent' non-sense. A 16 year old little boy got killed for whatever petty reason! and you are saying "just because he got killed means he was innocent?" No one deserves to be killed like that. His son got killed and somehow it's the dad's fault, wow!
This is so common in Pakistan. Police and others randomly put the responsibility of any crime on a woman related issue and then they are free of any responsibility of proper investigation. I doubt that this was just a fight on a girl. Like someone said Hamza was not exactly innocent and also from an influential family. Someone needs proper investigation.
Problems of the elite. Scores of people die everyday in Karachi, who are also sons of someone but neither media nor police tries to get the facts and arrest the culprits.
i want my comment published ET. please don't be so biased when a child's life is at stake.
Just because Hamza was killed, he was innocent? I doubt it. His father is also rich and he has been involved in fights previously as well. And where is the guard?
May Hamza's soul rest in peace. And i think Shoaib should get some punishment so that such people get a clear message that they will bot get away so easily after ruining someone's family.