Brazen ‘night-long’ robbery leaves commuters fuming in Murree

Incident took place in Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s home constituency

ISLAMABAD: Over a dozen vehicles with scores of travelers were looted in a night-long highway hold-up in what is Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s home constituency of the Murree hill station.

The incident reportedly took place on the night falling between May 16 and May 17 on the Rawalpindi-Murree-Kohala (RMK) Road in Kaseri Dongi, Murree. The location in union council Sairbagla is located just five kilometres away from the Mall Road of Murree — the proverbial centre of the main hill station.

According to details, scores of residents of Murree and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) including from Muzaffarabad, Kohala and adjoining areas — after sighting Ramazan’s moon — were heading to their native towns to spend the first of Ramzan with their families.

As they crossed main Murree town, their vehicles were intercepted by a gang of heavily armed robbers, it is learnt.

Reportedly, the dacoits not only looted passenger vans but also private vehicles who were caught in the jam.

The incident went unreported since the victims were reluctant to pursue the matter due to alleged lack of compliance from police.



Official sources said that dozens of travellers, including women and children, had been manhandled by the gangs who snatched cash, jewellery, cell phones and other valuables in a haul which is estimated to be worth millions of rupees.

Allegedly, the looting spree continued from midnight until dawn and the robbers managed to easily flee the scene after spending several hours there.

Sources in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Murree chapter say such incidents are an almost annual feature in this area. The robbers particularly strike in the first few days of Ramazan while police take no action.

“Hundreds of people from Murree, AJK and adjoining areas who stay in the twin cities for work purposes tend to visit their hometowns during the first few days of Ramazan to get a respite from the heat and then again during Eid. For the last few years, incidents of looting in this area have become regular and miscreants are being encouraged to continue heinous crimes due to the inaction of the police, and that too in a famous tourist spot like Murree,” sources said.



The matter has repeatedly been brought into the notice of senior PML-N leadership, including PM Abbasi, but to no avail, they complained.

Curiously, PM Abbasi frequently travels through the same area where the robbery took place, to visit his native village of Deval in Murree.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mehtab Ahmed Abbasi, a notable from the affected area, accused local police officials of being involved in the crime.

“Two police pickets were set up in the Kaseri Dongi area. But these pickets are not manned by personnel at night. It is more than just a coincidence that whenever a robbery takes place in the area, the police pickets are empty,” Mehtab said.

“On the other hand, the policemen keep harassing ordinary locals in the name of security checks to mint money. Not to forget that this is happening in the native constituency of the PM,” he added.

A similar highway robbery took place in the same area last year when then-premier Nawaz Sharif was visiting the hill station.

Reportedly, police officials deployed at the police pickets had been reassigned to the prime minister’s security protocol. As a result, when the robbers struck, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider had to dispatch what police forces he had at his disposal in nearby Kohala area to rescue the victims.

Police had managed to catch one suspect but he turned out to be a police officer and was later released, Abbasi claimed.

When contacted, Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said he was unaware of the matter.

“I need to check with the relevant authorities before commenting on it,” he told The Express Tribune.

To a query, he said strict action would be taken if it was proved that police officials deputed in the region were found negligent or were in any way or kind involved in it.

Murree Police Station SHO Malik Rafaqat was not available for comments. His mobile phone number was switched off till this report was filed.

Murree Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kamran Amir, who had assumed charge of his duties four days ago was unaware of the matter, officials at Murree police station said.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2018.