Pharmacies become sitting ducks for robbers

DIG censures Muslim Town DSP, Wahdat Colony SHO over robberies in their localities

LAHORE:

While the police top brass was entangled in political disputes during recent weeks, a number of gangs of robbers targeting pharmacies and houses in posh localities surfaced in the city.

The trend of frequent robberies at pharmacies came under the spotlight in the provincial capital during the past week. Several incidents of armed robbers barging fearlessly into pharmacies and looting valuables and cash were reported in different parts of the provincial capital.

In one incident, two robbers carrying firearms entered a pharmacy situated near a private hospital, took the staff hostage and fled after looting cash and valuables. The incident was recorded by CCTV cameras.

The members of the gang did not stop there. They continued their looting spree in the locality and moved to another pharmacy situated nearby to rob it at gunpoint before escaping.

In another incident, two robbers looted a pharmacy in Johar Town. The robbers wearing face masks entered the pharmacy and looted several people.

A robbery at a pharmacy was also reported from Wahdat Colony during the week. The store was looted on almost the same pattern.

As crimes of a similar nature started occurring frequently, the DIG operations summoned the Muslim Town DSP and Wahdat Colony SHO, and censured them about the robberies in their localities.

A police official said that the pharmacies had been ideal targets of the robbers since long because most other shops pulled their shutters down before midnight while the pharmacies remained opened beyond midnight, some even throughout the night.

The open pharmacies amid darkness on the roads become an easy target for the robbers. The official said a pharmacy at Garhi Shahu on Allama Iqbal Road had been looted at least five times in recent months.

A gang specifically targeting pharmacies has reportedly been active in the localities surrounding Ferozpur Road, such as Kahna.

According to a report, the gang has looted dozens of pharmacies in the area this year. The worth of the goods looted was estimated to over Rs40 million.

During the same period, another gang of six dacoits using a luxury vehicle and sophisticated weapons has also surfaced.

The robbers target citizens in posh localities. A man, Awais, got home after withdrawing over Rs3.4 million when four armed men intercepted him at the doorsteps in Model Town.

According to area officials, at least seven incidents of robbery in a similar fashion have been reported during the past few weeks.

The incidents spiked at a time when the provincial as well as city police did not have a permanent chief.

Punjab Police chief Faisal Shahkar had gone on leave apparently after developing differences with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after differences over registration of the FIR of the incident of firing at former prime minister Imran Khan in Wazirabad. The additional charge of the post was given to Additional IG Kanwar Shahrukh.

The post of the Lahore CCPO has also become a revolving chair as Ghulam Mehmood Dogar faced successive periods of suspension and resumption of duty.

The Establishment Division issued orders of his suspension, after which he approached the Lahore High Court that asked him to seek relief from the Federal Service Tribunal.

A bench gave him relief, while another bench upheld the suspension. Dogar then knocked the doors of the apex court that ordered his reinstatement.

People expect of the top brass of police to take notice of such matters and employ all available resources to rid the people of this menace.

Ironically, when the police top brass finds itself in a state of confusion and uncertainty, such ferocious gangs of robbers get a free reign, and pharmacies and people become a sitting duck.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2022.