Two men sent to jail in Karachi's DHA assault case

Two men sent to jail in Karachi's DHA assault case

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Thursday sent two suspects to prison on judicial remand in a case pertaining to allegedly assaulting a young man in DHA phase 8. The investigating officer of the case produced two suspects — Muhammad Ibrahim and Waqar Ali — before the Judicial Magistrate (South) after completing their second physical remand and sought their police custody for a third time. In the remand paper, the IO stated that three other alleged accomplices had obtained pre-arrest bail in the case, while a car and a mobile phone had been seized by the police. He requested the court to extend the suspects’ police custody, stating that he needed to apprehend the remaining suspects and recover a baseball bat and a weapon allegedly used in the commission of the offence. The IO also stated that an identification parade of the suspects was to be conducted before the magistrate. However, after hearing the IO and examining the medico legal report, the court remanded them in judicial custody and directed the IO to submit the interim challan within the stipulated period. “Heard and perused. This is third remand application. In compliance of previous order IO obtained the provisional MLC [medico legal certificate] after examining the accused ... hospital concerned. Co-three accused have admitted ad interim bail and they have joined the investigation... grounds for further police remand is not justified. The accusation against the accused is well founded, thus accused are remanded to jail custody,” the court ordered. A video went viral on social media in which the suspects were allegedly seen assaulting young man Syed Ali Jafri, who later lodged a case at the Sahil police station for offences under Sections 34 (acts done by several persons), 337-A(i) (punishment of shajjah), 337-V(arsh for hair), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 506-B (criminal intimidation if threat be to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). In his complaint, Jafri said he “remained silent” after the incident as he was scared, but approached the police after the suspects shared his video on social media. Jafri stated that he and his friend had gone to an e-gaming facility at Bukhari Commercial, where his friend’s acquaintance also joined them. He said he had never met the acquaintance before. The three later went to a nearby cafe and, upon leaving, were approached by a vehicle that stopped in front of them. A man, whom Jafri identified as another acquaintance of his friend, then stepped out of the vehicle. The man struck Jafri on the neck with a baseball bat, after which the friend’s acquaintance and “three unknown persons” accompanying him allegedly shoved the complainant into the vehicle and took him to an empty plot at Sahil Avenue in Phase 8, the FIR alleged. He further alleged that he was beaten on his legs with the baseball bat and that his hair was pulled, causing some of it to come out. He was then asked to “eat them”, the FIR said. Jafri said one of the unknown individuals was carrying a gun and that the attackers recorded a video of the assault. According to the FIR, he was shown pictures of his family members and threatened with similar action against them if he complained about the incident. Jafri said he was taken back to Bukhari Commercial in the same vehicle. The complainant also alleged that the suspects demanded Rs30,000 from him. By the time he reached home, he said, one of the individuals involved had already informed his family about the incident. Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2026