Karachi police book woman driver in ‘murder’ case over deadly Karsaz accident

The Karachi police on Tuesday said it had booked a female driver, who was involved in a deadly accident on Karsaz Road a day ago, over murder charges.

On Monday evening, a fast-moving SUV killed two people, including a woman, and injured three others.

Traffic Police Deputy Inspector General Ahmad Nawaz Cheema had told Dawn that a woman was driving a Toyota car in an “extremely negligent manner”.

According to Cheema, the car hit a motorcycle apparently while negotiating a turn from Tipu Sultan Road towards the service road of Muslim League House. The vehicle then hit two more motorcycles and overturned after colliding with a car parked on the road.

Five people were injured in the accident, with two of them succumbing to their injuries after being taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for treatment.

In a statement issued today, the District East police’s spokesperson confirmed that the police had registered a first information report (FIR) against the suspect.

The statement further said that the woman driver was arrested last night and handed over to the police’s investigation wing.

“The woman’s medical [examination] had been conducted, but the report has not been submitted by the hospital sources, as per the latest information,” the police said.

It added that the investigation wing was conducting a probe and that further information could be sought from the office of the District East’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) of investigation.

The FIR

The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was filed at 11pm last night on the complaint of Imtiaz Arif, whose brother and niece died in the accident.

The FIR invoked sections 320 (punishment for qatl-i-khata by rash or negligent driving), 337-G (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent driving), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the complaint, Arif was informed at around 6:45pm on Monday that his brother Imran Arif, who was riding a motorcycle along with his daughter Amna Arif, was met with an accident.

Upon reaching the JPMC, the complainant found out that Natasha Danish, who was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser, had hit his brother’s motorcycle from behind.

“Abdussalam, son of Mohammad Ishaq, who was riding on the motorcycle was also injured,” the FIR stated, adding that Imran and his daughter got several injuries and passed away later.

‘No one above the law’: police

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the investigation SSP’s spokesperson rebutted reports “circulating on social media that were trying to give an impression that the police were perhaps slow in taking action as per routine”.

The SSP’s spokesperson highlighted that the police had arrested the suspect and filed an FIR against her.

The statement further said: “Suspecting the woman driver of being intoxicated, the police as per procedure, sent the woman to a hospital for a medical [examination].”

It added that the JPMC had the authority to give the medical report and had been written to over the matter.

The spokesperson noted that an arrested person had to be produced before a court within 24 hours of arrest, for which the investigation wing was making efforts.

“The District East police want to clarify that no one is above the law. From the incident to the current time, the law has been strictly followed without any hesitation,” the statement asserted.

It further said that the police’s investigation wing would produce a charge sheet before a court on merit as the case proceeds.

“Yesterday, two valuable lives were lost and the police will not commit any negligence in its investigation,” the SSP’s spokesperson said.