The “emergency” I had in mind was that with no signs of the traffic moving, what if another robber comes along.
KARACHI: Last weekend, late at night, on my way back from PAF Base Masroor, I was robbed at gunpoint not once but twice. The road leading to the ICI bridge from Mauripur had a massive traffic jam with vehicles stuck for more than two hours. As soon as the traffic stopped moving, I started to fear that I would be robbed. Sure enough about half-an-hour later a man appeared at my window with a pistol and demanded my wallet and cell phone, threatening to shoot me if I did not hurry up as “he had little time”. I promptly handed over my wallet and phone to him and gathered the courage to ask him to give me back Rs500, as I might need some money for some emergency. He handed me the note and left. The “emergency” I had in mind was that with no signs of the traffic moving, what if another robber comes along, what would I offer him?
It took, another, 30 minutes for me to be proven right. Another two men appeared, one of them with a pistol, and asked for money. I told them that I had already been robbed and had only Rs500, which they took quietly and went away. I could see a police mobile with its lights flashing a few furlongs ahead on the opposite side of the road.
Nusrat Vohra
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2011.
