KARACHI: Senior producer Athar Mateen’s funeral prayers were offered at Clifton’s Al-Siddiqui mosque at 2pm on Saturday and later laid to rest at the Yaseenabad graveyard.

The journalist’s family members, President Arif Alvi and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail were among many who attended it. Athar was killed on Friday morning near the Five Star Chowrangi in Karachi’s North Nazimabad for thwarting a robbery.

Athar’s brother Tariq Mateen has urged the journalist fraternity to stand united against the murder of his brother.

Meanwhile, Athar’s relatives, media personalities and politicians reached Tariq’s residence Saturday afternoon ahead of the funeral.

At a press conference after the funeral, Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani said the provincial government does not entirely have the responsibility of transfer and postings in police departments.

Under the new law, decisions on postings regarding the SP and ranks above are taken after discussion with the chief minister.

“All the other postings, below the SP rank, are made by the police department itself.” Ghani accepted that crime in the city is on the rise and government has [somehow] failed to control it. “But police have been performing on track and the culprits will be arrested.”

It is not right to single out Karachi as such incidents happen in other parts of the country too, he added.

Commenting on the centre deploying Rangers in the city, the minister said it doesn’t make sense. “What if they failed to control things too? Will you deploy Pakistan Army? And what if they failed too? What will you do then?”

Every institute’s jurisdiction has been defined in the law. I don’t think it would a good option to consider any other agency for fulfilling what the police supposed to do, he said.