Police have registered a case against the unidentified driver of a speeding water tanker and the vehicle’s owners after a first-year college student was killed in a road accident in North Karachi on Thursday.
According to the FIR lodged at the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police station, 17-year-old Abid Raees, a resident of Surjani Town, died when a fast-moving water tanker rammed into his motorcycle in Sector 5-A/2. The complainant, Raees Ahmed, the victim’s father, stated that his son had left home for college as per routine when the tanker struck him, killing him on the spot.
The FIR included sections related to manslaughter, death caused by negligence, and reckless driving. The case names the tanker’s driver, who fled after the accident, as well as the vehicle owners, Saeedullah and Abdullah. Locals told the police the driver appeared to be underage. Following the accident, enraged area residents set the tanker on fire.
Meanwhile, MQM-P MPA and Joint Coordination Committee (COC) in-charge Shaikh Abdullah, accompanied by COC member Danish Rehmani, visited the bereaved family in Surjani Town’s Sector L-1 to offer condolences. Party representatives, including town committee and UC officials, assured the family of full cooperation in the legal process.
JI to protest
Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Monem Zafar Khan has announced that the party will hold a sit-in tomorrow (December 13) at the Nomaish Chowrangi against the frequent fatal accidents caused by water tankers and dumper trucks, as well as unjust e-challans.
Addressing a public press conference on Thursday outside the IGP Office regarding the increasing accidents involving heavy traffic, loss of precious lives and unjust e-challan, he said the struggle and resistance for the legitimate rights of Karachi’s 35 million citizens would continue with full strength.
“We completely reject the non-transparent and anti-public e-challan system,” he declared as he demanded that the Sindh government explain how many injured citizens had been treated under the Umar Amal Act.
He said broken roads, overflowing gutters and collapsed infrastructure throughout the city were adding to the public’s misery. He said the people of Karachi were suffering due to the incompetence and corruption of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government. The Sindh government was highly active in issuing e-challans but it had completely failed to control crime, he added.
Khan asked the traffic DIG how many roads in the city had proper traffic signals and zebra crossings. “If the issues of signals and roads are to be solved by fining motorcyclists, what role remains for the traffic police?” he asked.
He said 41,000 motorcycles and 16,000 mobile phones were snatched, 84 citizens were killed in armed robberies, and 244 citizens lost their lives due to heavy traffic in Karachi during the last 11 months.
“What kind of governance is this where criminals roam openly, while heavy fines are imposed on citizens through cameras? The Sindh government should tell how many criminals have been arrested in these incidents,” the JI leader said.
He said the traffic DIG repeatedly announced that trackers and sensors would be installed on heavy vehicles, and asked how many such systems were installed after over 250 accidents that had occurred so far this year.
He stated that Karachi had more than 4 million motorcycles. On the one hand, the Sindh government had completely failed to provide a proper transportation system, and on the other hand, it had left the people of Karachi at the mercy of deadly dumpers, tankers and heavy vehicles.
“There is no city in the world where dumpers and trailers fearlessly crush innocent people and then flee,” Khan lamented. He urged the long-suffering people of Karachi to participate in the sit-in in large numbers and join the JI’s movement for the rights of Karachi.
