Botched store robbery: Pakistani student killed in Sydney

FO condemns incident, urges Canberra to ensure safety and security of Pakistani citizens.

Barely 16 days before he was to fly home for a visit, 28-year-old Pakistani accountancy student Kamran Yousaf was killed in cold blood. His crime was preventing thieves from stealing a cash register in a fruit store that he worked in.

Yousaf, hailing from Gujrat’s Jalalpur Jattan, was shot dead in Western Sydney on Saturday, October 12, 2013 during a robbery at the fruit shop.

The Pakistani student, who was married just six months ago, had come to Sydney in December last year to study for a Master’s in Professional Accounting at the King’s Own Institute, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. He was due to return to his village in Gujrat later this month to see his new bride and family. Instead Yousaf will now return home earlier — but in a casket.



The foreign office on Friday condemned the murder and urged the Australian government to ensure safety and security of Pakistanis living and studying in the country.

In a statement, the FO said, “The news has been received with deep sorrow and we express our sympathies with the bereaved family on the irreparable loss.”

According to Sydney Morning Herald, Yousaf had taken a job at the Villawood Value Fruit Market to support himself and was working on a Saturday afternoon when two men – one armed with a gun and the other with a hammer – barged into the store.

A number of staff members and at least six customers were reportedly present in the shop at the time.



SMH reported that Yousaf probably struggled with one of the robbers before he was shot twice by the other robber, once in the head, and once in the stomach. Authorities said he tried to stop the thieves allegedly from stealing a cash register. Police and paramedics performed CPR on Yousaf, but he died at the scene.

Meanwhile the FO statement said that the Pakistan High Commission in Canberra and its consulate in Sydney in coordination with the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation and the Pakistanis in Sydney had ensured timely transportation of the body. The body of the deceased is due to arrive in Lahore soon, according to the FO statement.

“The Pakistani mission is in contact with the local authorities and will continue to pursue the matter to bring killers to justice,” the statement added.

However, the foreign office appreciated the Australian government’s early action into the matter and urged safety of Pakistani citizens living in Australia. “We urge that appropriate steps be taken to ensure the security of Pakistanis in Australia,” the statement said.

Two suspects, Linh Dang, 27, and Lance Lachlan Murdoch, 27, of Villawood, have both been charged with murder and armed robbery, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Dang was arrested after staff detained him at the scene, while Murdoch was arrested at his Villawood home less than 2km from the fruit store on Monday night and charged with the shooting death of Mr Yousaf with a silver pistol, according to the report.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2013.