Last Updated on October 21, 2026 by YeJahan
YEJAHAN REPORT
ISLAMABAD (Oct 21): A Pakistani businessman accused of deliberately running over and killing his 14-year-old apprentice, who was an orphanage, has been shot dead by counter-terrorism police, hours after he allegedly escaped from police custody.
The suspect, Tauqeer Nazir, was killed in what local authorities described as an “exchange of fire” near the city of Bahawalpur early on Wednesday morning. The killing has immediately drawn skepticism from human rights defenders and the public, who frequently accuse Pakistani law enforcement of using “encounter killings” to execute suspects extrajudicially under pressure.
Nazir had been arrested on Monday after horrifying CCTV footage emerged from an upscale gated community in Multan. The video shows 14-year-old Waseem Abbas, an orphan who had been sent from his care home just a week earlier to work as an apprentice electrician, running for his life down a residential street. A car is seen swerving to pursue the teenager, striking him at high speed. The force of the impact threw the boy into a concrete residential gate, killing him instantly.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the state, Waseem had faced severe violence and threats from his employer. Family members stated that the boy was attempting to flee his workplace and return home when Nazir and an accomplice hunted him down in the vehicle.
On Tuesday, a judicial magistrate in Multan rejected a police request for a 14-day interrogation period, granting a three-day physical remand instead.
Contractor remanded after crushing orphan under car; enraged lawyers assault suspect outside court
By Wednesday morning, officials claimed Nazir was dead. A spokesperson for Punjab’s Crime Control Department (CCD) stated that the suspect had managed to escape custody while on remand. Hours later, CCD personnel at a checkpoint on Bahawalpur’s Northern Bypass tried to stop two men riding a motorcycle. Police claim the riders opened fire, triggering a shootout in which Nazir was killed. In a familiar trope of Pakistani police reports, the CCD claimed Nazir was fatally struck by bullets fired by his own fleeing accomplice.
ماورائے عدالت قتل انتہائی غلط اقدام ہے اور اس کی مذمت کی جانی چاہیے , جو کچھ بھی تھا اس کا موقف سنا جانا چاہیے تھا یہ ہم بہت غلط طرف جا رہے ہیں۔ شواہد کی بنیاد پر سزا دینی چاہیے تھی میں نے وہ ویڈیو دیکھی ہے جس میں لڑکے کو روکنے کے لیے سائیڈ سے ہٹ کیا گیا تھا , کیا یہ نادانستہ ہوا یا غیر نادانستہ , جس کی وجہ سے اس کا سر دروازے سے ٹکرایا اور اس ہیڈ انجری کی وجہ سے اس بچے کی موقع پر ڈیتھ واقع ہوگی , اس بچے پر سیدھی گاڑی نہیں چڑھائی گئی تھی , اور نہ ارادہ قتل تھا بلکہ یہ قتل خطا تھا , وہ ایک پیشہ ور قاتل نہیں تھا۔ بہرحال یہ غلط ہوا ہے انصاف کے تقاضے پورے نہیں کیے گئے ہمیں اس ماورائے عدالت قتل پر افسوس بھی ہے اور ہمیں اس کی مذمت بھی کرنی چاہیے
— Eigensinn (@United_World__) October 21, 2026
The barbaric killing of an orphaned child has provoked widespread fury across Pakistan, spotlighting the systemic failure to protect vulnerable children in unregulated, informal apprenticeships. Millions of young, impoverished children in the country are forced into low-wage labor or informal training, where they are routinely subjected to exploitation and physical abuse.
Before the suspect’s death, Multan City Police Officer Akhtar Farooq told reporters that the department was in “deep pain” over the “barbarity” inflicted on the orphaned boy. Law enforcement authorities have since detained members of the orphanage administration to investigate how a child in their care was handed over to the contractor.
It is pertinent to note that Noman, the prime suspect in the murder of university gold medalist Laiba, was also killed under somewhat similar circumstances to Tauqeer’s killing.
Independent human rights groups in Pakistan have long campaigned against the practice of “police encounters,” which are widely understood to be staged summary executions used by police to bypass a notoriously slow and corrupt judicial process, particularly in cases that generate intense public outrage.
Copyright YeJahan News Network
