Inquiry ordered as CCTV footage emerges of police's alleged involvement in scuffle in Karachi's DHA

Inquiry ordered as CCTV footage emerges of police's alleged involvement in scuffle in Karachi's DHA.

Key points

• Imtiaz Ali Published August 29, 2026 Updated August 29, 2026 01: 41pm.
• Imtiaz Ali is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 25 years of experience in the field.
• The complainant alleged that the three family members hurled verbal abuses over a parking matter, and upon opening the door, began beating and threatening her.
• While their mother fled, the FIR remarked, subsequently, local police arrived on the spot and took the brother and sister into custody on the complainant's statement.
• In the FIR, the woman additionally maintained that the other side "snatched" her gold earring and two rings.

Imtiaz Ali Published August 29, 2026 Updated August 29, 2026 01: 41pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

KARACHI: The South deputy inspector general (DIG) on Saturday remarked an investigation had been ordered after a video emerged of police's alleged involvement in a recent scuffle between two apartment residents in Defence Housing Authority's (DHA) Phase 6.

In the CCTV footage, a woman can be seen rushing down a flight of stairs with a dumbbell in her hand and charging at another woman before using it to hit her.

Notably, the video additionally demonstrated two individuals in what appeared to be police uniforms restraining the woman being assaulted, and a man who came up the stairs shortly after and began arguing with the woman with the dumbbell.

After which the woman with a dumbbell and another man commence banging on their door and yelling obscenities, at one point, the man and woman being assaulted manage to go inside what appeared to be their home.

At the end, a man in a shalwar kameez can be seen using a weapon, provided by one of the individuals in uniform, to smash the CCTV camera.

After CCTV footage surfaced online of the incident, South DIG Syed Asad Raza informed Dawn that he had directed the investigation officer to conduct a probe on merit and in an impartial manner. He remarked that both sides had levelled accusations against each other.

Meanwhile, a first information report (FIR) of the incident, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered at Darakhshan police station at 1: 40am on Aug 21 on the complaint of a woman. The FIR offered a different version of events.

It invoked sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 337A(I) (punishment of shajjah), 382 (theft after preparation created for causing death, hurt or restraint to commit theft) and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In the complaint, the woman described herself as a resident of the fourth floor of an apartment building, adding that a man, his sister and their mother – who resided on the third floor – came to their door and began kicking it.

Meanwhile, the complainant alleged that the three family members hurled verbal abuses over a parking matter, and upon opening the door, began beating and threatening her.

Nevertheless, DIG Raza stated that section 382 pertaining to the alleged removal of gold ornaments had been removed from the FIR as the incident appeared to be a case of assault.

Imtiaz Ali is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 25 years of experience in the field. His reporting portfolio encompasses crime, politics, and the provincial legislature, alongside coverage of the courts, administration affairs, and the health sector.

For now, inquiry ordered as CCTV footage emerges of police' s alleged involvement in scuffle remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.