RAWALPINDI - In the second such incident to have occurred in the twin cities, a driver of the Careem taxi service was killed by unknown persons on Monday night in Rawalpindi.

“Our Captain Sajawal Ameer was killed last night [Monday ] at 10:35pm in a car snatching incident, the second such incident to have occurred in Islamabad [Rawalpindi] in the recent past”, said the company. The company mentioned Islamabad instead of Rawalpindi as place of the incident for the reasons best known to them. The incident took place at Chakra road in the jurisdiction of police station Naseer Abad Rawalpindi. Last month, another Careem captain Junaid Mustafa was killed in Islamabad.

Sajawal Ameer (22) son of Ameer Ali hailing from district Bhakkar and a dresser at AFIC Rawalpindi used to work with the ride-hailing service as a Taxi driver. On Monday at around 10:30 pm, three armed men stopped him at gunpoint and snatched the car (Honda ADW-014/ICT) from him. They fired at the driver, as a result of which he received a severe bullet injury and died in hopsital on Tuesday. Soon after the incident, the car was blocked by tracker at Misrial Road in Rawalpindi and the dacoits managed to escape from the car.

Amir Mushtaq Khan, son of Mushtaq Hussain Khan, resident of Ghauri Town Phase-5 Islamabad in his application to the police said that Sajawal was his friend who used to drive his car as a taxi with the Careem service. Police have registered a case under section 302 of the PPC against unknown persons and further investigation is underway. Initially, an FIR was registered under section 394-PPC.  According to the Naseer Abad police, the suspects tried to snatch the car but the vehicle had a tracker installed which turned off its engine, after which they abandoned the car nearby and fled away. The car has been recovered. The culprits reportedly took away cash and mobile phones of the driver.

In the last week of February, a Careem taxi driver was attacked and injured when he put up resistance to an armed robbery in Rawalpindi. According to the details, driver, Rizwan Niazi, hailing from Mianwali, was attacked with a sharp object by one of two motorcycle-riding muggers, who took away with Rs18,000 in cash. Rizwan was heading home after turning off the ride-hailing app when two masked men riding a motorcycle asked him to pull over near Rawalpindi’s Saddar Metro station.

 Thinking they were asking for directions, he stopped his car after which the robbers made Rizwan step out of the car at gunpoint and looted cash from him.

In May 2017, a Careem captain was shot dead in Rawalpindi by unknown individuals. Four men in Satellite Town area of Rawalpindi tried to snatch a car from Muhammad Waqas. Eyewitnesses said that four men tried to get hold of the car, but while resisting the robbery attempt, Waqas was shot dead by the criminals.

Careem in a statement on Tuesday said, “We sadly announce that our Captain Sajawal Ameer was killed last night at 10:35pm in a car snatching incident. His death is a terrible tragedy and Careem mourns with his family and prays for Sajawal Ameer’s soul. This is the second incident to have occurred in Islamabad [Rawalpindi] in the recent past. We appeal to authorities to take strict notice of these incidents and enhance efforts to drastically improve the safety of citizens.” “We will vehemently take this case up through legal channels. Due compensation will also be provided to the family”, the company further said. It also urged the lawmakers to take note of the deteriorating security situation in Islamabad. The company is providing technical support to the police in tracing the culprits.