Man held for beating nephew, niece for stealing money

Police have arrested a man for beating two schoolchildren. Yasir Gujjar, an official of the Baloch Colony police station, said a video clip of the man beating a schoolgirl and a schoolboy has been circulating on social media for the past few days.

Gujjar said senior police officials ordered tracing the man to put him behind bars, adding that the police expanded their intelligence network, during which they received information about the man residing at a house in Sector-B, Rehman Colony.

Police rushed to the address and arrested the man named Safdar Hussain, as well as took custody of both children. All three were taken to the police station, where the children’s father Akhtar Hussain also arrived later.

Akhtar told the police that his wife had gone back to her home town in Punjab over a domestic issue, and since his was a Watta Satta marriage, his younger sister was sent back to Karachi.

He said that a few days ago, the school where his children study phoned him to tell him that they had a complaint about the children. He added that when he visited the school, he was told that his children had been coming to school with pocket money of Rs500 to Rs1,000 on a daily basis.

When the father asked the children about it, they admitted to stealing the money from his savings he had been keeping at the house. On returning home, he told his younger brother Safdar to keep an eye on the children.

When Akhtar left for work, Safdar started beating the children, while his younger sister recorded the video of the incident and sent it to the children’s mother, asking her to return home. However, the mother uploaded the video clip to social media. Police said the children have been handed over to the Sindh Social Welfare Department, who along with the Child Protection Bureau are now engaged in the necessary paperwork to pursue the case under the Sindh Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2016.

SHO suspended

Karachi’s Additional Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho has suspended the station house office of Shah Faisal Colony and ordered his demotion.

Officials said on Tuesday departmental action had been taken against Sub-Inspector Manzoor Arain after reports were received about the presence of drug peddlers near the railway line and the sale and purchase of drugs there. It was also reported that no serious steps were taken to control incidents of snatchings near the railway tracks by the SHO.

The officials said the city police chief had formed secret teams to monitor the performance of all SHOs in the city. He has ordered his subordinates to led a crackdown against the drug peddlers operating in their areas, and if anybody is found involved in patronising them, strict action will be taken.