Karachi Police Shoot Youth in Back, Flee Hospital Amid Staged Encounter Claims

KARACHI: A young man was critically wounded after police personnel opened fire on him in the Nazimabad No. 2 area of Karachi, mistaking him for a street criminal before abandoning him at a medical facility and swiftly registering a dubious encounter case, family members and officials revealed on Wednesday.

According to eyewitness accounts and testimonies from the victim, identified as Shoreem, his cousin Muhammad Tayyab, and his mother, law enforcement personnel shot the unarmed youth directly in the back without prior warning. Following the shooting, the panicked officers transported the profusely bleeding victim to a local hospital, left him unattended on the premises, and promptly fled the scene to avoid immediate scrutiny. Shortly afterwards, local police registered a first information report (FIR) alleging an armed police encounter, a move the family denounced as a calculated fabrication designed to shield the trigger-happy personnel from legal consequences.

The incident has sparked renewed public outrage over persistent extrajudicial tactics and reckless firearm use by the Sindh Police in Pakistan’s commercial capital. Civil rights activists and legal experts have frequently condemned the rampant culture of staged shootouts, pointing out that unchecked authority and lack of operational restraint disproportionately endanger innocent civilians navigating the city’s precarious security landscape.

The victim’s relatives have demanded an immediate independent inquiry led by senior provincial authorities, urging the Inspector General of Sindh Police and judiciary to scrutinize surrounding CCTV footage and hold the implicated personnel accountable. Senior police hierarchy has initiated an internal inquiry to review the circumstances of the firing, while rights groups continue to press for the immediate suspension and criminal prosecution of the officers involved.