Waylaid: Dozens looted at gunpoint in Abbottabad

Victims later shouted slogans against police in Nawanshehr

ABBOTTABAD: Armed men stopped three dozen vehicles and stole cash and other valuables worth hundreds of thousands of rupees from passengers on Thandiyani Road in Abbottabad on Thursday night.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a police official quoted Ghulam Mujtaba, a businessman from Orash Colony in Abbottabad, as saying that he was on his way on Thandiyani Road in a van along with his relatives. When they reached Gati Chowk at around 8pm, they found a truck parked in the middle of the road. Mujtaba told the police that when he and his relatives got out of the van to ask the driver to clear the road, two masked men emerged from the bushes and pointed a gun at them.

According to the complainant, the masked men had four to six accomplices who snatched their mobile phone and cash worth Rs250,000.

He said the dacoits, who held them hostage for over an hour, looted people in over 30 vehicles, including five tourists. The dacoits stole jewellery, cash and mobile phones from them. They also injured some of the people when they tried to resist the robbery.

Over a hundred victims of the robbery reached Nawanshehr police station and shouted slogans against the police for not helping them even though they were aware of the situation.

The police have registered a criminal case against the unidentified dacoits. According to SHO Shehryar Khan, a search operation was carried out to arrest the accused.

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