Karachi police drop case against Salman Farooqui in youth assault incident

Karachi police have closed the case against Salman Farooqui, who had been nominated in an assault incident involving a young man in the Ittehad Commercial area of Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

The case gained widespread attention last month after footage of the incident went viral on social media.

During a hearing at the South Judicial Magistrate's court in Karachi, police informed the court that the case against Farooqui had been officially withdrawn. Gizri Police also submitted a report confirming the closure of the case.

According to the police report, the complainant, Dheeraj alias Dhanraj, no longer wishes to pursue legal action against the accused. In a written statement, he affirmed that neither he nor his sister was subjected to any misconduct by the accused.

The report further noted that, based on the complainant's sworn statement, all charges — including threats to kill — have been dropped.

Following this, the court recorded the police report and adjourned further proceedings.

Last month, Farooqui was arrested for allegedly assaulting a motorcyclist in front of the latter's sisters. A video shared on social media showed Farooqui, reportedly angered by a collision between his car and a motorcycle, physically assaulting the rider on Khayaban-e-Ittehad. Despite repeated pleas from the victim’s sisters, Farooqui continued the assault.

The incident caused public outrage online, prompting police to register a case against Farooqui and another individual, Owais Hashmi.