Having just woken up from his costly nap on the lawns of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), Khan recalled how an unknown person had formed a friendship with him at the hospital and offered a cold drink, after which he lost consciousness, only to discover upon waking up that his wallet was missing.
Khan’s unknown acquaintance was arrested by Margalla police on Tuesday this week. He belonged to a three-member gang of muggers who operated on the lawns and cafeteria of the largest government hospital of Islamabad by befriending visitors, drugging them and then emptying out their pockets. In this manner, they robbed 30 people in the past one month.
Talking from behind bars in a calm and steady voice, Shakil Abbassi, the leader of the gang, told The Express Tribune that he had been aware that Hashim Khan badly needed that money.
“Before I offered him a sedative drink, he told me that he had come from Mardan, his daughter was admitted at the hospital and doctors were saying she might undergo surgery,” he said. But this did not stop Abbassi from picking Khan’s pocket.
A teenage Afghan boy, Mohsin Khan, was also arrested along with Abbassi while their third accomplice is at large.
The investigation officer, Ishtiaq Hussain, said that police informers had been given the task of tracking the gang. “They gave us tough time. Only a few of their victims had reported to the police, the rest remained quiet,” he said. Ishtiaq said the gang leader Shakil Abbassi had recently been released from jail. He was a professional mugger.
“For a freedom of a month or so, we spend two months in jail,” said Abbassi. “Our biggest catch this month was Umer Hayat. We looted Rs15, 000 from him” he added, with his eyes glinting.
While the act they committed was dirty, the modus operandi of the gang was dirtier---taking people into confidence in the name of friendship and then depriving them of money when they needed it the most. “We identify our target first. Take him to a place in the lawn, spread a shawl for him and engage him into friendly conversation to win his confidence,” revealed Abbassi. “Then we offer him a cold drink mixed with Volume 88 tablets. A person normally takes 40-45 minutes to go into deep sleep.”
That was exactly how they had made their biggest catch of the month, Umer Hayat, from Mianwali. “His father was in the cardiology ward. I told him my mother was also admitted in the medical ward. He proved to be an easy prey. We didn’t need to return to the hospital for at least two days after making Rs15,000 from him,” Abbassi said.
He said the gang had selected the hospital as their target place because of its abundance of potential targets.
“I am into this profession for over twenty years and have been in jail for around a hundred times,” a relaxed Shakil Abbassi told The Express Tribune before retiring to his bed in the lock-up. He added suggestively, “There are many concessions under the law of the land which help my release from jail.”
Published in the Express Tribune, June 18th, 2010.
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