No change in New Year as crime spree continues

Three big robberies reported in the first week of January 2020

LAHORE: New Year did not augur well for Lahorities as robberies continued unabated in the metropolis. Three big robberies were reported in the first week of January.

Besides, dozens of other incidents of theft, robbery and vehicle lifting were also registered.

On the first day of New Year 2020, a family in Manwan got a robbery case registered after they were deprived of valuables worth Rs10 million.

Head of the family Khalid Javed said at least six armed men barged into the house and looted Rs2.78 million cash and 150 tolas gold ornaments.

Other victims also included the nephew of Prime Minister Imran Khan Sher Shah Khan and the family of a senior journalist Imtiaz Alam. Reportedly, the robbery at Alam’s house was also of more than Rs10 million.

The robbery at the house of the nephew of PM Khan occurred at Upper Mall, an area considered to be safe and well protected, owing to the presence of important and sensitive installations in the whereabouts.

At least three robbers barged into Sher Shah’s house and looted valuables worth millions of rupees.

The suspects had hit the house in the wee hours of the night. Six armed men breached into the house of Alam on Raiwind Road at 2:00 am and robbed the valuables worth Rs10 million including cash, foreign currency and jewellery.

The modus operandi, targeted personalities and magnitude of loss in these three incidents have been a clear indication that these were well-planned successful robbery attempts.

Reportedly, it is a maxim in police investigations and criminal circles that the larger a gang, the easier to break. The more the numbers, the more difficult it becomes in maintaining cohesion, confidentiality as well as safe mobility.

The profile of victims and the subsequent loss in robberies in Manawan and Alam’s house made it clear that the suspects were not ordinary criminals. A brief analysis suggested that police failed to bust these gangs.

There any routine response towards dealing with it could be disastrous. Besides, putting life and property of citizens at risk also raised questions on the performance and capability of the law enforcement agencies.

This should have been the priority of Lahore Police. Furthermore, there have been such instances in the past as well, where such gangs went on a looting spree.

A similar gang comprising of more than seven members created a literal sense of fear among Lahorities living in peripheries like Manawan, Barki, Hadiara, Factory Area and Batapur in 2017.

The suspects were so organised that they would pretend to be the members of law enforcement agencies on the pretext of a search operation. What caused a lethargic response of Lahore Police? They literally staged at least 11 robberies in a short span of two to three months in a similar fashion.

Aerial firing

The aerial firing on the new year’s night claimed the life of a teenage girl and four others sustained injuries. The victim identified as Eman was reportedly hit by a stray bullet during the New Year’s celebrations.

She was shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment where she breathed her last. Police in response to such recurrent incidents would often share statistics of actions taken.

However, there was a serious gap in police response to such incidents. The suspects in the cases of aerial firing, kite-flying, etc are overwhelmingly unidentified.