Break-in: Robbers target MNA Haji Akram’s house

It’s time that the government ponder over its priorities: Abid Sher Ali

FAISALABAD: Unidentified men forced entry into MNA Haji Akram Ansari’s house on Monday and took away gold jewellery and Rs300,000.

The Ghulam Muhammad Abad police investigation officer told journalists that five unidentified people had knocked at the gate of Ansari’s house at 7:23am on Monday. Ansari’s eldest son Muhammad Iftikhar Ahmad had opened the gate. The men had forced their way into the house.

Police said that Ahmad had told them that the men had carried sophisticated weapons.

Police said that the robbers had held MNA Ansari, his wife, Ahmad, two daughters-in-law and other family members at gunpoint and locked them in a room.

They had threatened to kill them if they alerted the police.

They had then collected the valuables – 150-tola gold ornaments and Rs300,000 cash – and fled.

Ahmad said that they had lived in a densely populated area. “A daylight robbery is just inconceivable here,” he said.

City Police Officer (CPO) Afzaal Kausar and other police officers visited the house and gathered evidence and statements.

Ghulam Muhammad Abad SHO Amir Khan Lodhi a case has been registered against five unidentified robbery suspects on Ahmad’s application.

The SHO said they had lifted the robbers’ finger prints from the crime scene and said they would arrest them soon.

State Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali expressed serious concerns over the robbery and said, “Faisalabad police have failed to protect the life and property of citizens…the manner in which the robbers barged into an MNA’s house and robbed them brings a bad name to our government.”

He said the Punjab government must take notice of this and take serious action against criminal elements in the city.

“The Punjab government must ponder over its priorities in order to ensure the safety of citizens.”

The PML-N City organisation called an emergency meeting chaired by Advocate Shahid Mehmood Baig. They condemned the incident and demanded that the chief minister take action over police negligence.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2016.