“The driver stopped and started reversing towards the Rangers who opened fire at him,” says an eye witness. PHOTO: MOHAMMAD NOMAN/EXPRESS
A trigger-happy member of the paramilitary Rangers shot dead a taxi driver who was taking his four-year-old child to buy fruit for Iftar in the city’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighbourhood on Tuesday.
An eyewitness said he saw Rangers men on motorcycles signalling at the taxi to stop. “The driver stopped and started reversing towards the Rangers who opened fire at him,” he said.
Ghulam Rasul, the Rangers soldier responsible for the incident, said he suspected the driver was a bandit who had kidnapped a child. But police officials ruled out such a possibility.
The driver, identified as Murad, a resident of Chishti Nagar, Block 10 in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, was shot four times in the chest. Murad’s son was unharmed but he was unable to speak after witnessing the whole shocking episode.
His body was taken to Jinnah hospital for an autopsy and was then handed over to the family.
“The victim was dead when he was brought to the hospital,” said the medico-legal officer at Jinnah hospital.
The law enforcers also vouched for Murad as a law- abiding citizen who had no criminal record, as later corroborated by DIG Tahir Naveed, police chief for District East.
The head of the paramilitary unit, Major General Rizwan Akhtar, later suspended four Rangers personnel for their role in the incident.
On June 4, a Rangers solider gunned down a 22-year-old motorist Ghulam Haider in Shah Faisal Colony for allegedly failing to stop his car. The youth was driving his cousin to the hospital for a dialysis.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2013.
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There is no value of human life in Pakistan, and then you expect other nations to respect you and your damn system.
How could the rangers shoot him in the chest while he was reversing towards them? Stand behind a car. The only thing you will be able to target is the head, and if the bullets pierce through the seats, they would hit the back, and NOT the chest. Well, unless the rangers found a way to make their bullets take a u-turn in mid air. And how come the front windscreen is shattered if they shot if from behind while he was reversing towards them?
One answer to the above questions is that the rangers shot him from the front of the car in cold blood. The part where 'he reverses towards them is a lie'. They shot him from the front and are lying to make it look like an accident.
Why so high profiled paramilitary troops for law and order... If this is how to "maintain law and order" even a child can do that if we hand over a rifle to one i.e shoot on suspicion.
The ranger killers arrested would be prosecuted and sentenced then their force would scare and pressurise the family members of the killed taxi driver and they would pardon the killer ranger just like happened in the case of sarfraz shah. In this country the people in uniform are above law whether they kill people or break the country
sad
I hope the media follows the entire outcome of this tragedy, my feelings are for the child. What are the details and circumstances of this incident?
The guy stopped the Taxi as instructed. Unless he put the car in reverse at a very fast speed, there was no need to shoot at him.
The country is in a terrorist situation and everyone has to do their part. If Rangers order you to stop then you should stop. This country needs discipline. Nobody follows the laws here. I am sorry the taxi driver was shot but this is the price for disobeying the ranger.
This is what happens when adequate training is not provided and a proper system of accountability is non existent. What kind of a man can shoot at an innocent person in full view of a child without reason.
What else can be more painful for this 4 year child?
@Sajid Iqbal: yes they seem blind by bias
@Ali Ahmad: read the story... it states that the driver had stopped. Secondly, please note that Rangers are NOT authorized to shoot without being asked by accompanying or area police to intervene. Rangers are on a power trip and that's the sad reality here.
For all my friends advocating Rangers here, you are blind or what? Can't you see what written in the news? The guy stopped!
to all those scumbags...defending Rangers act definitely needs to get their act straight.
Very sorry state of affairs...
@Ali Ahmad Just wish and pray you never get in to an emergency and fail to stop. Wish you never have to take your parents or siblings to the hospital in emergency and face the Rangers on the way. You are a pure savage by nature!
I am fail to understand that how on this earth these rangers or police don't know their boundaries... Last year they shoot a young man in Clifton area and now here... Their is a rule for all these armed forces, if someone is resisting they don't have right to kill to death unless the situation goes beyond there control.. this ranger man could have fired in the tire of the taxi damnit, instead killed the driver...?
This is happening on Karachi roads Regularly.
For a Common man, The fear of Rangers And Police is Greater then The fear of Bhatta Khorz, and Target killers.
Now this is enough, Karachietes are already tortured by bhatta khorz, gangs, political groups, now the rangers is a new addition for them.
Who gave them authority to kill anyone only on a suspect?
Even if the Taxi driver was a kidnapper and he was trying to run away. The rangers or any another force can not kill him. until he attacks at rangers or any other force. They only can defense their self, and shoot the suspect in defense and not in any other way. There is no law until you have a Shoot at sight Warrant.
We are living in a jungle law.. There is no law no Rule.
Some times i actually Scared when i see rangers standing alongside the road. I slow Down the car. as it is difficult to stop and park the car in such a traffic.However if i will not be successful to stop it immediately for any reason ( may be break fail or i did`nt notice him or the traffic is not allowing me to stop it immediately) he will most probably shoot me on a suspect.
The government should seriously need to take some strict action against these law enforcing agencies, who are killing innocent just as in formality to exhibit the government that some thing is being done.
I feel terrible for the family and my heart goes out to them. However if you look at it in two different ways:
Our people out here think they own the land and do not want to follow rules- a red signal is a perfect example where people don't even want to stop and just drive by and maybe the rangers thought the taxi driver was one of those who did not want to obey the law - they should have however shot at his taxi wheel not him.
Another aspect is the corrupt officials - when you stop you get miserably harassed and end up paying your way out - which is why he probably didn't stop immediately.
The government needs to look into a lot of stuff but for now just killing someone on suspicion is definitely NOT on. Like I said shoot his car tyre so he cant drive till your suspicion is proven true - do not shoot people at random just because you have been given the power to.
It's sad that taxi driver lost his life. BUT it also redicilous to blame officer. Every one knows that if officer of law stop for checking etc, One must stop - let alone a taxi driver (he should know more than anyone). Officer sign's you to stop BUT you disobey orders n race your vehicle to run or what ever - this very moment One must think as Officer (on duty in Karachi which seems front line city in crimes) would have been thinking, taxi driver maybe a terrorist, murderer, drug dealer n what not. Officer's don't carry magic ball to see inside car from faraway - he will open fire. It's sad that taxi driver died BUT same time if people wish security than they should also learn to respect n obey law n officers.
@Ali Ahmad: How about targetting the tyres of the vehicle and not the driver. A militant with a 4 year old son, yeah right!
@Maria: You need to read the whole news. It says, he stopped and then backed up. That means he was obeying law, and had every intention to come into close proximity of the very ranger, who shot him.
@Maria Taxi driver was not shot from front! If you kindly look at the Taxi closely you can see a bullet hole on the door of the driving seat, and its an entrance as the hole is bended inward & if you read the 2nd para, it clearly refers to an eye witness according driver had stopped his taxi at a distance was reserving when these so called our "Protectors" opened fire on him!!!
GoRangersGo!!Leave our City
These Rangers personnel need to be send back to deserts where they belong! Leave Karachi!! You are not wanted here!
GoRangersGo@Ali ahmed: sorry to burst your bubble dude, but no is supposed to be gunned down if they doesn't stop their! Standard procedure is to first fire shot in the air, than shot at legs if a person is on foot or in case of riding a vehicle LEA personnel are shoot at tires!
Cruel ! The poor 4 year old will grow old with this image of the force and Pakistan in his mind.
Hope Welfare state of Pakistan will take care of the family's needs and children education.
It's not the fault of the Ranger alone- the guy should have stopped when told to stop. Given the security situation of Karachi, people should stop when told to stop by the security personnel- otherwise how will the Rangers know that someone isn't some criminal or terrorist in Karachi. There should be a public education program for people in Karachi to learn to follow the instructions of law enforcement officials.
So this is what the Rangers are actually useful for, killing innocent citizens while for acting according to their directions. Pretty soon the contents of newspapers will be comparable with that of Anne Frank's Diary.
Truly shocking. This speaks volumes about our law enforcement agencies. No wonder Karachi has been plunged into such a terrible state.
Given the precarious law and order situation in Karachi, the Taxi Driver should have stopped. What if this was a real terrorist driving the cab?. This could have happened anywhere in even America. Sad reality is the cab driver was at fault. May his soul rest in Peace.
do the highly ineffective rangers force have authority of shoot to kill ?
RIP, I feel for the grieved families and especially the kid who was with his father when he was shot by the insane rangers jawan. This is quite sad and shows the level of professionalism of our security forces. Rangers has been stationed in Karachi for two decades but after all that time they are shooting innocent citizens rather nabbing criminals who are roaming free on the streets of Karachi. Frankly with the sort of political setup in Sindh in general and Karachi in particular the performance of these security agencies is not going to improve. We need strong political leadership who can stimulate some competence into these lethargic protectors of citizens of Pakistan. For now they are just protectors of Bilawal house.
Every one is contributing towards killing of innocent people in the city.Never seen Rangers stopping or arresting real criminals. Every other day we hear similar of Rangers "Brilliant"performance. This force seems incompetent and poorly trained to operate in a civilized society.
How shocking and heart melting.
How disgusting .
Iftar time preparation , a poor taxi driver who earns a hard earned living in such times , his son happy to go shopping with his father to buy some tasty lowly affordable mediocre quality fruit , the driver obediently stops and reverses to report to the law .
And WHAT HAPPENS ? This is so sad.
If anyone who reads this news and does not feel guilty socially , then it means they dont know the meaning of humanity.
May ALLAH grant Paradise to the poor dead man , and may ALLAH send angels in human disguise to look after the family.
AMEEN
One word, SHOCKING! This is yet another example of these so called protector of our motherland making civilian victims. They are incompetant, complacent, illetrate and know only to mishandle and order around civilians. Please throw them back to borders where they belong and let the police, albeit how incompetant but not savage animals, do their job. These 'wardi walay' should be protecting the borders in which they miserably fail daily. The military and paramilitary are eating out roots of this country. There is not a single example in the world where military has separate extravagant housing schemes (DHA, Askari etc.), separate school system and separate medical setup. The military acts like an elite cabal in this country rather to protect it and its civilian population.
This society is broken. The people are heartless, the culture is gone and country will disintegrate. As a father of 3 year old, I cant imagine what this poor boy is going through! Whom he will call now, whom he will play now ? Where is Allah ?
So sad. These incident should be taken notice of and should be made a example out of it so they never kill any innocent man.
What a horribly article title that tries to portray the ranger as the one at fault without knowing facts.
I am sorry If one doesn't stop then they are supposed to be gunned down. Rangers are just doing their job. Secondly, don't gang up on me after reading this. If a car owner or motor cyclist or even a pedestrian do not stop on being told then its subconsciously assumed that he/she may be a militant or something.
This would continue to happen as long as there is no oversight and repercussions of the violent acts of armed men acting in the guise of our protectors. From East Pakistan to Abbottabad there is no punishment for even a single person responsible and they all get away with the worst things in the world.
Let's please put the army back where it belongs.
The government seriously needs to raise the level of intelligence and education required for the lowest military posts. Right now it is 10th grade and I've seen a lot of dumb goofs in my due time at the Military Academy. Then proper training is also a must. Just spending 6-9 months training these soldiers how to salute and carry a gun isn't enough. :/