Four cops arrested after toddler killed in Karachi police firing

KARACHI: Four police officers were arrested on Wednesday after a 19-month-old boy was killed in crossfire near Safoora Chowrangi at Karachi's University Road, in yet another incident of alleged police negligence during a shootout with suspected criminals. 

The toddler, Ahsan, died when a bullet entered his chest and exited through his back, the post-mortem report revealed. The bullet also grazed and injured the child's father, Kashif Raja, who said his son was killed by a bullet fired by a police officer while the family were climbing into a rickshaw near Safoora Chowrangi within the limits of Sachal Police Station on Tuesday evening.

The child's funeral prayers were offered earlier today, in Block 8 of Gulistan-e-Johar.

Four police officers were arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder after a first information report (FIR) was registered on behalf of the toddler's father.

The bereaved parents, however, rejected the FIR, saying it was not filed according to their wishes and that the police were trying to protect the officials involved in the incident. 

Speaking to Geo News, the deceased's mother said she, her husband, and her late son were going to the market to buy groceries in a rickshaw when police officers on a motorcycle started firing.

The officers, she claimed, opened fire right in front of her and there was "no encounter".

According to Additional Police Surgeon Dr Shiraz, the toddler was shot from a distance of 10-15 feet — or point-blank range. The surgeon determined that the cause of death was a bullet to the chest.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah demanded report of the incident, while Murtaza Wahab — the adviser to the chief minister on law and information — stressed that an investigation into the incident should not be carried out by police as they had been accused in the case.

Cases of alleged police encounters gone wrong have been frequent in Pakistan, with names of Amal, 10, Intezar, 19, Nimra, 22, and Maqsood being fresh in one's mind.

Maqsood case

Law enforcement authorities (LEAs) on January 20, 2018, claimed to have killed Maqsood, a "wanted suspect", in a shootout near Faisal Base on Karachi's Shahrah-e-Faisal. 

However, hours later, police backtracked on their initial statement, saying that he was in fact killed due to the firing of the real suspect engaged in a shootout with the police.

Four police officers of the Shahra-e-Faisal station were nominated in the case.

In a charge sheet submitted on March 24, police stated that Tariq, an assistant sub-inspector of police, had shot the deceased from a close range. It further noted that Tariq had shot two other people after dragging them out of the rickshaw, along with the deceased.

The father of the deceased, Sheikh Muhammad, had said: “My son was martyred by the police. I have not received any justice. He was not carrying a weapon; I demand that the authorities release the CCTV video so that people can know the truth.”

Intezar case

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of 19-year-old Intezar's murder first surfaced on January 28, 2018 — two weeks after police allegedly shot him dead in Karachi.

It showed his car was intercepted by another car from the front, while a third vehicle and a motorcycle also arrived at the scene, stopping to the left of his car. Apart from these, another motorbike stayed at a little distance to the right side.

Shortly after the 19-year-old's vehicle was signalled to go, it was shot at from the back, the footage revealed. The plain-clothed personnel riding the second motorbike and positioned to the right also fired shots at his vehicle.

The video also showed that none of the police personnel at the spot were in uniform.

Amal case

Ten-year-old Amal was killed on August 13, 2018, when a police officer fired a bullet attempting to kill a robber, who had looted her family at a traffic signal a few minutes earlier.

“There was a lot of traffic at the signal at the time. The man took my wife’s phone and bag and then told us to roll up the windows and left,” her father told Geo Pakistan. "As soon as I started the car, we heard a gunshot and a bullet suddenly hit our windshield."

Umer and his wife, Beenish, then turned back to check up on their two daughters sitting in the backseat. "When I turned, I saw Amal lying in a pool of blood and my other daughter clutching my seat," Umer said.

Nimra case

Nimrah Baig, a final-year medical student, was shot dead on February 23, 2019, when she was caught in an exchange of fire between police and suspected robbers in the metropolis’ North Karachi locality.

According to police, officers were chasing a group of robbers, who were fleeing the area after looting when they started firing at them at Anda Mor. The police retaliated and Nimrah, who was walking by, was shot in her head during the cross-fire.

The 22-year-old was rushed to Jinnah Hospital where she passed away. Police claimed the student was hit by a bullet fired by the robbers. A suspected robber — identified as Riaz Malik — was also killed during the cross-fire.