KARACHI: A young car dealer was shot dead by robbers, who took away Rs800,000 he drew from a bank branch in Gulshan-i-Hadeed on Monday, police said.

They said that the family and relativesof the deceased and area residents staged a protest against the killing and blocked National Highway for hours.

The Steel Town police in a statement said 28-year-old Alam Khan was shot and wounded by the robbers over resistance near Bab-i-Rehmat Masjid. He was shifted to a nearby hospital where he died during treatment. The deceased was a car dealer.

Malir SP Mansoor Gulzar told Dawn that Khan had drawn cash from a bank and was driving to his car showroom when armed motorcyclists intercepted him. They tried to snatch the cash and shot him when he put up resistance. The robbers rode away with the looted money.The SSP added that the victim also possessed a licensed pistol.

While the police expressed ignorance about the looted money, the victim`s relatives told the media that the muggers took away Rs800,000.

The deceased was a cousin of a local leader of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl, whose workers and relatives of the deceased blocked the National Highway near Steel Town Mor to protest the against the killing, rising incidents of robberies in the city and the failure of law enforcers to control street crime.

A traffic police spokesperson said that both tracks of the highway towards Thatta and Quaidabad were closed dueto the protest. The blockade started at 2:53pm and continued till 7:45pm, he added.

Man shot dead off Superhighway A man was shot dead off Superhighway on Monday.

Gadap City SHO Sarfraz Jatoi said that Khursheed Qasim, 45, was shot and killed by unidentified assailants near Angara Goth.

The officer attributed some personal enmity behind the incident.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.