Law and order: Robbers’ gang becomes a nuisance for traders

LAHORE:

A gang of robbers has been plaguing traders at College Road. Apprehending them has become a challenge for City police as every shop on the road has suffered at their hands.

Two weeks ago, traders of the area had staged a protest demonstration and had blocked College Road over this.

Hassan, a one of the traders, told The Tribune that at least 100 shops had been robbed.

“Before we staged the street demonstration, robbers would strike once a week. Now, it is every other day,” he said.

He said several complaints had been moved with the police but no action had been taken on them so far.

Asif Bashir, owner of Anokhi Battian, told The Tribune that his shop was robbed on March 4. “I was at the counter when a boy entered the shop at around 4pm. I thought he was a customer so I stood up to greet him. The boy pulled out a gun and told me to hand over the sales cash. He collected the money, snatched my mobile phone and left on a motorbike,” he said.

The owner of a children’s garments store, asking not to be named, said he was robbed on February 4.

“A man entered my store at around 9am. He pulled out a gun and started collecting valuables. An accomplice helped him,” he said.

He said that he had called police on their helpline but a team arrived an hour and a half later.

“I called my mobile phone after two hours from a landline and it rang,” he said. He said he had informed the police but they had not taken any action to apprehend the suspects.

He said police could have found the suspects if they had tracked his mobile phone.

Muhammad Riaaz of Mughal Sanitary Shop said he had moved a complaint on March 2.

“I was sitting at my shop in the evening when a man came to the store and took away Rs25,000 and several mobile phones at gunpoint.”

Investigation Officer SI Malik told The Tribune teams had been formed to find and arrest the suspects.

“We are collecting details about the suspects right now,” he said. He said two shop owners had provided CCTV footage of the robberies and the robbers had been identified by other complainants.

Operations DIG Haider Ashraf said police were investigating the matter. Responding to a question about police response and their failure to track mobile numbers, he said, “Police are working on eliminating such weaknesses.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2016.