Victims of robberies pin hopes on new police chief

ISLAMABAD:

The victims of armed robberies in the federal capital have pinned renewed hopes on the new Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid and newly-appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Qazi Jamilur Rehman, who had otherwise lost hope of recovering their hard-earned money.

In multiple incidents during the last few months, armed robbers have deprived citizens of millions of rupees on their way back from banks.

Despite availability of footages and other identifiable material, the Islamabad Police have failed to make any breakthrough owing to inefficiency or lack of concern by the police authorities. “The death of only arrested man in custody raises doubts. It has pushed the investigation back to square one. In this case, we cannot rule out a plot to conceal facts or faces,” a journalist, Ishtiaq Ahmed, said who was robbed of Rs0.8 million in Sector I-8/1 in September after withdrawing the amount from a bank.

“All I have got from the police so far is false hope and fake claims,” another victim, Arshad, lamented who was robbed of Rs1.1 million in Sector G-9 on his way back from a bank.

According to a police spokesperson, all out efforts were being made to arrest the gangs of muggers.

Moreover, the interior minister had announced that the police will be given cars equipped with modern technology to detect, trace and arrest the criminals yet the victims have not been provided any relief.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2021.