In the dead of night: Thieves ransack over a dozen shops in Empress Market

KARACHI: A group of thieves ransacked over a dozen shops and stole cash and goods worth thousands of rupees from the city's historical Empress Market Sunday night, breaking the fool-proof security of the police as part of the Muharram security plan.

Police had sealed almost all the exit and entry points around the Ashura procession route with shipping containers and buses on Sunday midnight. Since the Empress Market, too, lies on the route of the procession, police had sealed it, too.

However, despite the seal, a group of thieves managed to enter the market in the middle of the night, breaking the locks of around a dozen shops to steal goods and cash. The incident has created a feeling of insecurity among local shopkeepers of the area.

The Preedy police have detained two guards of the market but no case has been registered as yet. Preedy SHO Aurangzeb Khattak confirmed the news and said that no one entered from outside since the market was sealed. There is a possibility that the guards broke the locks and stolen the goods, he said.

"We have arrested two guards, Dunya Gul and Arsalan Khan, and both said that the thieves tied them with ropes," said Khattak. "But we suspect that the two did this." He added that the police are investigating the incident.

Meanwhile, Sindh IG Allah Dino Khawaja also took notice of the incident and asked the South DIG to conduct an inquiry.

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