A man died and his wife injured when a Sindh Rangers personnel opened fire on them in downtown Karachi, sparking tension in the area where agitating people blocked the roads.
Police said that Zeeshan Uddin was quarrelling with his wife Sufia near the Siddique Akbar mosque at Nagan Chowrangi in western Karachi when a Rangers official who was watching the fight thought that the man was trying to rob the woman.
He opened fire on them and both the husband and wife got injured and rushed to the hospital where Zeeshan succumbed to his injuries.
The people of the area got agitated on the incident and blocked the road in protest. They were chanting anti-Rangers slogans. They demanded to hang the responsible Ranger official on the road.
Paramilitary rangers have killed several innocent people in the past and at least two Rangers officials were sentenced to death for killing a teenaged man a couple of years ago. In yet another incident they killed a taxi driver who could not see the picket and was passing through it.
However, the Rangers spokesman said that people drew attention of Rangers personnel, who were deployed on a picket in the area, towards a man who was apparently trying to abduct a woman. The Rangers personnel while responding to the situation fired warning shots in air but the individual kept on with the scuffle. The Rangers personnel shot and injured the man to arrest him, who later succumbed to his injuries in Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Inquiry to access the facts has been ordered and details will be made public, he said.
DIG West Javed Odho said the matter will be investigated according to the law.
Zeeshan’s wife said that her husband was physically abusing her on the street and when she cried for help, no one responded, and that is when the Rangers official fired at him.