Three held in Karachi doctor robbery-murder case, police say

KARACHI: Police have arrested three men in connection with the killing of a young doctor during a robbery near Teen Talwar in Karachi’s Clifton area, South Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, DIG Raza said the arrests were made within the limits of the Defence police station. He said the 28-year-old doctor was shot dead on Monday outside a private bank near Teen Talwar after resisting a robbery attempt.

According to the police official, the suspects arrived on two motorcycles to carry out the robbery. He said investigators gathered details of the incident within 24 hours and completed the arrests over the next 36 hours. Raza said the suspects were already present when Dr Akash reached the bank, adding that one of the accused had allegedly conducted reconnaissance before the incident and relayed information to the others.

He said police examined more than 100 CCTV recordings during the investigation. The DIG added that the suspects used two motorcycles and a car in the crime, and that part of the stolen money had also been recovered from them.

In a separate appearance on Geo News programme Geo Pakistan, Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho said two more suspects had been identified and would be arrested soon. He said CCTV footage had played an important role in tracing the suspects in the Dr Akash murder case.

Safe City project and crime figures

While speaking on the Safe City project, IGP Odho said the first phase had been completed successfully and around 1,150 cameras had been installed. He added that the second phase was about 90% complete.

Odho said Karachi had recorded 37 incidents of terrorism last year, compared with seven so far this year. He also said that crime in Karachi’s Defence area had declined after the installation of CCTV cameras.

The Sindh police chief further said street crime across Sindh fell by 11.8% during the first six months of the year.