LAHORE: A man accused of chasing and running over a 15-year-old boy in Multan was killed in a police encounter in Bahawalpur on Wednesday, two days after the teenager’s death, police said.
The suspect, Tauqeer Nazir, had been arrested and placed on four-day physical remand by a judicial magistrate on Tuesday. The Crime Control Department (CCD) said he escaped from police custody that night.
According to a CCD statement, officers tried to stop two men on a motorcycle near Bahawalpur’s Northern Bypass on Wednesday morning. The riders allegedly opened fire, triggering an exchange. Tauqeer was killed, while his companion escaped while firing at police. Special teams were searching for the fleeing suspect, the department said.
Teenager allegedly pursued after workplace dispute
Tauqeer was accused of pursuing Waseem Abbas in a car and running him over in a private housing society in Multan on Monday. The teenager suffered a severe head injury and died at the scene, Rescue officials said.
The FIR, registered at the DHA Police Station, names Tauqeer and Amjad Ali as suspects and invokes sections 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, concerning murder and acts committed with common intention. It alleges that the two men deliberately chased Abbas and struck him with their vehicle.
According to the report, Sub-Inspector Liaquat Ali Bhatti was patrolling in Royal Orchard when Mukhtiar Ahmed approached police at about 4:35pm. Mukhtiar said Abbas, his cousin, had been working for the suspects as an electrician and had allegedly faced violence and threats.
The FIR says Abbas ran into a neighbouring street to escape, followed by a Honda car. Police alleged the vehicle hit him near the gate of a house, causing his head to strike a pillar. Two residents, Saqlain Raza and Syed Naseem Abbas, were listed as witnesses. They reportedly told police that Abbas had passed them shortly before the incident, saying he was running for his life.
The report states that Tauqeer was detained at the scene, while Amjad fled. Police seized the car. Mukhtiar told investigators that Abbas wanted to leave the job because he feared for his safety.
Orphanage says boy had recently started work
Abbas had lived at an orphanage for five years and hoped to learn electrical work, said Shoaib Haider, the institution’s general secretary. The orphanage had sent him to work with contractor Tauqeer six days before the incident, Haider said.
He said the contractor claimed he had followed Abbas by car after the boy ran away and that the vehicle had slipped. Haider said video footage did not appear to support that account and that Tauqeer would need to explain why Abbas had fled.
Haider said the orphanage had received no earlier complaints about the contractor, who he said employed around 40 to 45 boys. Another child from the institution had also worked for Tauqeer but was brought back after Abbas’s death.
Abbas’s cousin Nadeem, who also lived at the orphanage, said the teenager had sometimes resisted going to learn the trade and wanted to return home. He said Abbas had not come back to the institution after leaving for the job.
The boy’s uncle, Jafar Hussain, said Abbas’s father had died nine years ago. After being cared for by his maternal grandfather and uncle, Abbas was admitted to the orphanage. Hussain accused Tauqeer of deliberately killing his nephew and called for justice.
Abbas’s maternal grandfather said he had sent the boy to the orphanage so he could study and avoid hardship on the streets. The teenager and his brother had been admitted to the institution after their mother remarried, residents said.
Abbas was buried in his ancestral graveyard in Mouza Daulatpur, Muzaffargarh, after funeral prayers held at about 2am. The body was first taken to Nishtar Hospital under police supervision. Close relatives and orphanage officials attended the funeral.
Bureau questions orphanage’s duty of care
Punjab Child Protection and Welfare Bureau Chairperson Sarah Ahmad said the bureau had refused to register the Multan orphanage, citing its failure to ensure the safety and supervision of a child placed with a contractor.
In a post on X, she urged Punjab police to take legal action against the orphanage’s owner and hold those responsible accountable. She also called on the Punjab Charities Commission to review the institution’s registration and licence and cancel them if warranted by law.
Ahmad said the bureau had set minimum care standards for orphanages in Punjab and that institutions could not neglect their responsibility to protect children.
