One more resident of Karachi has lost his life at the hands of robbers as the wave of muggings continues in the city. The number of residents who have been killed in robberies in the city this year reached 74 on Monday.
The latest incident took place near the Murghi Khana Bridge in the Quaidabad area, where armed robbers targeted a milk shop, and killed the vendor when the man tried to resist the attempt to rob him.
The deceased was identified as 37-year-old Baqar Ali, son of Iqbal Ali. He hailed from Punjab’s Pattoki city, and was a resident of Karachi’s Hamal Goth, near Malir River.
He was a father of four (a son and three daughters), and the second-eldest among five brothers. His body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
“We have shops in various areas under the names Bismillah and Rajput Dairy,” the victim’s brother Jafar Ali told the media. “We open the shops at dawn.” He said the incident occurred outside the shop. “There have been two or three robbery incidents before. Baqar was very passionate. He had tried to catch robbers before.”
He also said that there is a hotel next to the shop that was open at the time of the incident, adding that apparently, the culprits attempted a robbery and there was a scuffle with the victim.
According to the victim’s family, Baqar was opening his shop in the morning when three robbers arrived on two motorbikes, and tried to snatch his mobile phone and cash at gunpoint.
However, upon resistance, the robbers escaped without the phone, but they opened fire on him, hitting him in the chest and neck, resulting in his immediate death. He had no enmity with anyone, according to a close relative.
According to the residents of the area, Baqar had thrown a stone at the robbers as they were making their escape, so they had come back and shot him dead.