Federal narcotics control minister injured in robbery bid at home

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Federal Minister for Narcotics Control and former Sindh chief minister Ali Muhammad Mahar was injured inside his bungalow in Karachi’s upmarket Defence neighbourhood in the wee hours of Tuesday.Police officials claimed that the minister was injured after he resisted an attempted robbery at his home. The Sindh police chief has taken notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the South Zone police chief over the incident.The incident took place on the night between Monday and Tuesday, when according to the police, a group of armed men barged into Mahar’s bungalow located in Phase-IV of the Defence Housing Authority.Police said that when the minister tried to stop the robbers from looting his house, one of the suspects hit him on the head with a pistol and injured him, adding that the armed robbers later managed to escape from the scene.After the incident, which occurred in the jurisdiction of the Gizri police station, the injured minister was immediately taken to a private hospital for medical treatment. Following the incident, District South SSP Pir Muhammad Shah and District South Investigations SSP Tariq Dharejo also reached the site. While talking to the media, they said that the incident was apparently an act of robbery.“Initially, the two armed men broke into Mahar’s residence by scaling its main door and later the others entered the house,” the police officials told the media. “The bungalow’s staff was unarmed and the armed men easily held them hostage.”Senior police officials said that five mobile phones were robbed in the incident, and that they are checking what other valuables were taken away by the suspects, reiterating that the crime scene suggested that it was an act of robbery.The minster’s bungalow is spread over 2,000 square yards with different portions and houses and around 17 employees, and the robbers were limited to only one portion of the bungalow. SSP Shah said that four suspects on a rickshaw also visited the bungalow a day before the incident and left the bungalow after asking about a person, namely Yasin, while declaring him an employee at the bungalow.The officer said that the federal minister, who was under treatment for the past 10 days since he fractured his leg, had come out of his room screaming during the incident, prompting the robbers to attack him.An investigation team headed by Darakhshan ASP Sarfaraz Virk has been formed for further investigation into the case. IGP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam has also taken notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the South Zone DIG.The federal minister is currently affiliated with the Grand Democratic Alliance, whose leaders condemned the incident, demanding immediate investigation into the incident and the arrests of the suspects involved in it. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Khurram Sher Zaman also visited Mahar at the hospital and criticised the Sindh government over the ever-increasing incidents of different crimes.

from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2VeJGNd
The News International - Karachi