Suspect wanted for Athar Mateen’s murder killed in police ‘encounter’

Karachi: Sindh police on Tuesday (March 1) claimed that they had shot dead a suspect wanted for the murder of journalist Athar Mateen, who was killed last month while preventing a mugging. 

According to details, the second suspect/killer of producer Athar Mateen was shot dead in a police encounter Tuesday. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Mateen was one among at least 20 people killed in street robberies gone wrong in Karachi since the start of year 2022. 

In recent months, crime is back on the streets of the ‘city of lights’— raising questions on performance of police and other concerned authorities. 

The surge in crime is upsetting for authorities and citizens who fear for a city that is home to Pakistan’s main stock market, handles all of the cash-strapped country’s shipping and generates most of country’s tax revenue. 

The journalist was on his way home after dropping off his children to school on February 18, when he saw two men on a motorbike robbing a citizen at gunpoint. 

Athar rammed his car into the motorcycle to stop the muggers—who then being enraged over the hit, opened fire at the journalist’s car before stealing a passerby’s motorcycle and speeding away.   

The news producer died on the spot in his car.

It should be noted that the incident occurred just a few hundred meters away from a police station and about a kilometer away from a headquarter of the paramilitary Rangers. 

On February 19, Karachi police took a man, whose motorcycle was used in the assassination of broadcast journalist Athar Mateen, into custody from Hub area of Balochistan. 

Revealing the names of killers, police said that both— Anwar and Ashraf— were involved in the murder of Athar Mateen—without any suspicion.