Sindh okays Rs5m each as compensation for families of two men lynched in Karachi

KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet on Monday decided to pay Rs5 million as compensation to the bereaved families of the two telecom company workers who were lynched by an angry mob over child kidnapping fears in Karachi’s Machhar Colony on October 28. 

On Friday, a furious mob had killed the two men — Aimen Javed of Thatta and Ishaq Maher of Naushehroferoze — following rumours that they were there to abduct children.

Sindh Inspector-General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, however, told the cabinet in his briefing that they were visiting the area to "check the signals of the mobile tower".

The IG informed the cabinet that 15 people identified in the footage of the incident have been arrested.

In response, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah said such incidents could not be ignored, and the killers will have to face the law, while also noting that the public confidence in the police had deteriorated.

"The incident of Machhar Colony and others in which the mob kills the culprits or [suspected] culprits was a question mark of the public confidence in our police, therefore, we have to revisit the laws to discourage the mob justice system, and the police have to develop public confidence in them."

The cabinet, while approving the Rs5 million compensation for each of the victims, also formed a cabinet committee to discuss the issue and give its recommendations.

The committee will comprise Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh, Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab, Special Assistant to the Sindh CM for the Rehabilitation of Special Children Sadiq Ali Memon, IGP Memon, and Home Secretary Dr Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo.

The committee has also been tasked to assess the need for the creation of a "mob management police force" to handle such cases.

The force, if formed, will be given relevant training and equipped with the required equipment and arms.