KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Karachi Police shot dead the second key suspect involved in murder of Athar Mateen, senior Samaa TV producer, in an encounter in Karachi today.
According to Karachi police, Athar Matin was murdered by two men, riding a motorcycle in February 2022, when he tried to thwart a robbery near Karachi’s Five Star Chowrangi.
According to SSP Bashir Ahmed, the security agencies carried out a raid in the Shahdad Kot district after they received a tip-off from one of their sources. When the police reached there, the suspect, identified as Anwar Hasani Brohi, opened fire at them. During the retaliation that lasted some minutes, Anwar was killed.
The SSP told SAMAA Digital Brohi was killed in a joint operation conducted by the Shahdad Kot and Karachi police. “After the murder, he had fled to Balochistan’s Khuzdar.”
He added that a reward of Rs2 million has been fixed for his arrest as well. Brohi’s police record showed he was named in 13 cases since 2014 and was sent to jail three times, but he managed to get bail.
Last week, the prime suspect in the case, who shot Athar, was arrested. Ashraf Brohi, who hails from Balochistan’s Khuzdar, was taken into custody from Hub. He was identified through CCTV footage obtained from the crime site.
Ashraf, too, has been named in eight other cases. He was previously arrested in 2021 but was later released on bail. The suspect belonged to a 12-member gang involved in snatching motorcycles and cars. The group operated in Hub and other areas of Balochistan.
The robbery
According to the police, Athar came across two men robbing a citizen at gunpoint when he was returning home after leaving his children at school on February 18. To prevent the mugging, he rammed his car into the suspects’ motorcycle after which they fell off.
In retaliation, the men opened fire on his car. They then left their motorcycle on the spot and escaped after snatching another bike.
CCTV footage and eyewitness statements indicate that another car first grazed the robbers’ motorcycle, but the motorist sped away without stopping. When Mateen hit them with his car, they fired shots through the windscreen of his car.
