KARACHl: An angry mob severely beat an alleged robber and set him on fire following a botched robbery at a shop in a Landhi market on Sunday morning, officials and witnesses said.

The killed suspect was recently released on bail from jail in a robbery case.

The incident prompted the police to register a murder case against several unidentified people in the crowd.

The incident occurred at around 7.30am.

Landhi SHO Arif Razzak told Dawn that the suspect came to a milk shop owned by Pervez in Baber Market with the intention of robbery.

However, the shopkeepers put up resistance and managed to hold him down.

One of them from the shop tried to snatch the pistol from the suspect and during the process the gun went off, but no one was hurt The sound of the gunshot attracted nearby people and a crowd gathered there. They severely beat the suspect and later set him on fire after dousing him with kerosene.

`The police were informed about the incident when the suspect had already died, said the SHO.

Later on, the police took the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-monem examination.

`The suspect, aged 30 to 35 years, was burnt beyond recognition,` said Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of the JPMC.

The police officer said the mob torched the suspect after he had already died.

Although some people particularly elders tried to prevent the mob from burning him, their efforts went in vain.

The police recovered three mobile phones from the possession of the deceased.

In the meantime, the police received a phone call on one of the seized mobile phones from a female relative of the deceased. She identified the deceased as Arslan Mehmood, resident of 100 Quarters in Korangi.