The accused Ranger was identified as Ghulam Hyder and was arrested. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
"The driver was shot at when he refused to stop the taxi on the Ranger's insistence," reported Express News correspondent Nadeem Ahmed. According to initial reports, the taxi was directed to stop for snap checking, and when the vehicle did not pull over, it was shot at.
Police reports suggest that a case against the Ranger, who was identified as Ghulam Hyder, is being registered.
Hyder was arrested soon after the incident.
"The taxi driver was not alone. There was a child with him as well but it's not clear yet if the Ranger was aware of the child's presence," said Ahmed.
The dead body of the taxi driver, who was identified as Mureed has been shifted to a hospital.
Police officials said that the victim was not a criminal.
Later, a Rangers spokesperson claimed that the vehicle was fired upon after it refused to stop on their instructions.
"Security checks on civilians were increased when Rangers were targeted by terrorists early morning, severely injuring two officials," the Ranger's spokesperson in a statement distributed through SMS.
"Ranger officials also caught a suspicious person carrying weapons who wanted to carry out an operation against them," the spokesperson said.
"When the Rangers tried to stop a taxi passing by Kamran Chowrangi later in the day, the driver swiftly reversed which prompted the personnel to open fire," the message added.
The spokesperson said that the driver was rushed to the hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.
The DG Rangers has taken strict notice of the incident and demoted Squad Commander and Company Commander.
"An inquiry into the incident has been launched and the accused will be dealt with according to the law."
COMMENTS (17)
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Rangers, Please go back from Karachi as people don't deserve security in the city.
This is gross incompetence on part of the rangers. I cant imagine what that 4 year old went through. A 4 year old's mind is so innocent, their world consists of playing imaginary games and talking with their daddy. Having to lose their father in front of them like this is so painful to imagine.
The rangers morale is very down. Previously when there was violence in the city, the rangers were spared, but nowadays there are attacks on rangers everyday. Just yesterday two rangers were shot during a robbery because the robbers thought the rangers were there to stop them when in fact they were just passing through after buying food for iftari.
That said, there needs to be a serious re-organisation and re-assessment of the rangers. And those who did this need to answer for their crimes. This kind of incompetence is not expected of them, even soldiers serving in fata in extremely stressful conditions don't make mistakes like this.
something is fishy here...the witness' account states that the taxi driver stopped and was reversing to the rangers...yet the pictures suggest that he was shot through the front windshield. Could it be that the rangers were still infront of him and signalled him to stop, yet the taxi driver decided to beat it by changing his way? that might have raised the suspicion in the rangers' mind and caused him to open fire??
i am very sad at how tragic this situation is, but we also need to remember that we've had instances in karachi in which suicide bombers have slammed their bikes in rangers' vehicles causing casualties. I belong to an influential family, yet, whenever I am travelling and told to stop my vehicle by the cops or rangers, I abide by the law for my own sake. It doesn't matter whose son/father/nephew/cousin/brother you are....none of it will matter when you have 2 holes in your chest and one in your head.
How convenient it is to blame everything on Islam. Can these liberals get a life please.
Its sad to know of this incident. May Allah gives patience to the bereaved family. In my opinion the ranger personnel has to blamed as many others have commented here that he could have targeted the tyres first.
brutality.Condemn
@londonistani
What is the fun in it?
Rangers can shoot any body whether he is a criminal or not and there should be no accountibility?
Do you mean to say that Rangers should kill a person without any reason and then roam freely?
If the Taxi Driver did not stopped there, he may be in hurry to reach at some point in urgency.
When a person is not a criminal why should he feel guilty. Even in case, if the deceased Taxi Driver would have stopped there, Rangers would have wasted his half an hour in investigating and checking his documents.
I think that Police is much more better than Rangers who are staying in Karachi un-wanted.
@Gingo
Come to think of it its fault of secularists/liberals who been running Karachi forever, I am Islamist and my advise to u act on what you preach 1st stop hate speech against Islamist then complaint abt anything else.
@Mohammad Ali Siddiqui: "...Rangers were not attacked with a gun or a bullet by any or all of the three deceased citizens....."
so are you suggesting that Rangers should wait for being shot at and then act afterwards (if they ve got any breathes left, after being shot)....
this was an act of self defence. Ranger fired a shot at suspected terrorist, who was found not to be later on..........but too late.
@Saeed:
Come to think of it its actually the fault of hate preaching ulemas, Islamists and their apologists who've created this situation in the country that has lead to the taxi driver's death. I hope you are not an islamist apologist.
Even though the rangers i believe are better of dealing with the criminal elements in the city as compared to the police whose presence is more of a nuisance and counter productive but it seems the rangers need to be better trained in dealing with the people living in the city. Incidents like these are only going to tarnish their image. Its a very unfortnate sad loss indeed.
@Saeed: Go easy... he should hav fired the tires as a warning...
When a Ranger stops you, you stop. Period!!
Before stupid people start commenting that rangers have no right to do that, You should know they have the full right to do whatever in order to safe guard the people of the country and if they ask you to stop you should stop, if you dont stop then ofc they will think of you as a person whom is doing something illegal. So the conclusion is that people whom havnt done anything wrong stop when asked and when if someone has done something illegal they dont stop but run away when asked to stop. So we can say that he might have done something wrong thats why he didnt stop
A bit too heavy handed...especially since it was ramadan. Couldn't they have aimed for the tires first?
Rangers is exceeding from its powers.
Rangers have no right to open fire on any won who does not obey their instructions.
Looking at the previous cases of Rangers killings in Karachi whether the case is of Benazir Bhutto Park of Sarfaraz (Shaheed) or the person going on Shahrah-e-Faisal few days back or of this very taxi driver, in all the three cases, Rangers were not attacked with a gun or a bullet by any or all of the three deceased citizens.
It is something that when any one is not killed in the target killings in Karachi, he is been killed by the Rangers.
A case should be registered in the court of law and Rangers must openly apologies to the people of Karachi and blood money should be paid to the legal heirs of all the three deceased persons.
If the guns are given in the hands of Rangers that does not mean that Rangers should start killing people unabatedly.
What DG Rangers is doing? Probably he must be sleeping in his office while Rangers is killing innocent people on the roads of Karachi.
feel sorry for taxidriver but ranger too did his job as it is an SOP under such poor security issues prevailing in country.law enforcement agencies must be respected and general public should provide asisstance to them as well