Journalist Athar Mateen Murder: Police Kill Suspect In ‘Encounter’

Journalist Athar Mateen Murder: Police Kill Suspect In ‘Encounter’
One of the suspects in the murder of journalist Athar Mateen has been killed in a ‘shootout’ with policemen in Karachi, Sindh police have said.

Police had received a tip off about the suspect, Muhammad Anwar, son of Shadi Khan, of Khuzdar, Balochistan, and set up a road block near Shahdadkot Road in the Noor Wah area of Karachi on Monday night. Upon spotting the suspect on a motorbike, police ordered him to stop.  Instead, he opened fire on police and police retaliated in turn.

Police reported that the suspect was wanted by police in other cases of robbery and theft and had been in jail at least three times. They confiscated a motorbike and weapons from the deceased criminal.

Last week, another suspect involved in the murder of the journalist, Ashraf Brohi, was apprehended on the Sindh-Balochistan border and taken into police custody.

On February 18, Athar Mateen was shot and killed on a main thoroughfare in North Nazimabad, Karachi after he tried to stop a robbery in progress.  Mateen had tried to stop the robbers by ramming his car into their motorcycle.  However, after the crash, one of the thieves opened fire on Mateen’s car.  Mateen was hit by one bullet and died on the scene.

Athar Mateen was a senior producer for Samaa TV.  Following his death, Prime Minister Imran Khan shared his condolences with the bereaved family, saying “we will try our best to arrest the accused. Our policy about street crime is clear-cut.”