Highwaymen: Passengers of five vehicles looted

All were commuting between Bagh and Rawalpindi.

MUZAFFARABAD:

Passengers in five vehicles were deprived of cash and valuables by a gang of robbers on the Bagh-Rawalpindi road near Kotli Sattian on Tuesday evening, police and eyewitnesses told The Express Tribune.

Four masked men forced two Toyota Hiace vans and three cars to stop at gun point near Mirzapur, Kotli Sattian and snatched cash, gold ornaments, 10 cellphones and other valuables worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.

The passengers, mostly from Bagh District of Azad Kashmir, were travelling to-and-from Rawalpindi.

The gun-toting men thrashed some of the passengers for resisting.

“We could not inform the police as the robbers had snatched our cell phones,” said Gulzar Rafiq, who was deprived of Rs7,000.

Later, they fled while firing into the air.

Bagh Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Guftar confirmed the incident while talking to The Express Tribune. “I talked to the Rawalpindi Superintendent of Police (SP) on phone and brought the incident to his notice. He then sent a police party to the area to ensure the safety of travellers,” Guftar said.

Guftar further said that it was the duty of the Punjab Police to ensure safety and security of the passengers while enhancing police patrolling on routes connecting Azad Kashmir with Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2014.