Karachi dumper truck driver sent on two-day physical remand for killing siblings

• Truck driver produced before judicial magistrate (Central).
• IO tells court suspect doesn’t possess HTV HTV licence.
• Suspect’s LTV licence expired in 2016, says police officer.

A local court in Karachi on Monday remanded a dumper truck driver into police custody for two days in a case involving the crushing and killing of two siblings on the city’s Rashid Minhas Road.

The two siblings were killed and their father injured when a speeding dumper truck ran them over in the early hours of Sunday, sparking mob violence and protests in different parts of the port city. The deceased were identified as 22-year-old Mahnoor and 14-year-old Ahmed Raza.

Following the incident, the dumper truck driver was assaulted by local residents before being taken into custody by the police. Meanwhile, an infuriated mob set fire to at least seven dumper trucks in different parts of the country.

At the outset of today’s hearing, the police produced the dumper truck driver before the court of the judicial magistrate (central).

The investigation officer (IO) told the court that the suspect did not possess a heavy traffic licence, adding that he had an LTV (Light Transport Vehicle) licence, which expired in 2016. 

The IO said that information regarding the owner of the dumper truck also needs to be obtained from the suspect and sought his physical remand.

At this, the court handed the suspect over to the police on a two-day physical remand and adjourned the hearing.

Traffic police initial report

The initial traffic police report suggests that the dumper truck was moving at high speed in the fast lane at the time of the accident.

The report further said that the deceased’s motorcycle had apparently slipped, possibly after a minor collision with another vehicle travelling alongside it.

At the time of the accident, it was drizzling and the road was wet.  The report further stated that the two siblings fell off the motorcycle due to the imbalance, and a high-speed empty dumper truck approaching from behind ran over them.