Rs40m heist triggers police jurisdiction spat

Seven armed bandits loot 40 cattle traders near Rawalpindi-Chakwal border region with impunity

RAWALPINDI:

At least seven armed robbers snatched Rs40 million from 40 cattle traders on a bus near Rawalpindi and Chakwal border on Wednesday.

According to the police, the robbers held the cattle traders hostage at gunpoint for about 45 minutes in the moving bus and got away with their money.

After the incident was reported, a boundary dispute arose between the Rawalpindi and the Chakwal police. Later, the issue was resolved with the intervention of senior officers and a case was registered. The affected traders demanded the Punjab chief minister take notice of the incident.

A traders, Daniyal, informed the Jatli police team over the phone that the incident occurred when over 40 traders were on their way to the Lahore cattle market via the Peshawar Motorway in public transport.

However, due to fog near the Balkasar Interchange, the Motorway police diverted the bus from the motorway towards the Sohawa, Chakwal GT Road.

The report stated that as soon as the bus covered some distance, seven robbers with pistols and a Kalashnikov in a car signalled to stop the bus.

As the robbers got into the vehicle, they asked the bus driver to keep moving, took all the cattle traders hostage at gunpoint, thrashed and beat them up and robbed them of their money.

Read Gang involved in heist busted

The affected traders said that they had reported the incident to Rescue 15, on which a preliminary report was lodged at the Jatli police station, Rawalpindi. The police also visited the crime scene, inspected the bus and directed all the affected traders to reach Jatli police station.

When the victims reached the Jatli police station, the police officials said that the incident on GT Road did not take place in the limits of Rawalpindi district but in Chakwal district, therefore, the traders should go to Chakwal and get their report registered there.

The affected traders were standing outside the Jatali police station in the bitter cold and were in distress by the indifference of the police.

The traders demanded that action should be taken by taking notice of the improper behaviour of the police.

The Rawalpindi Police spokesman said that the robbery incident took place in the Dhok Amb area of Chakwal district.

However, the Jatli police had rushed to the spot after receiving the information about the incident but after investigation, they found out that the area falls within the limits of Chakwal. The case of the incident will be registered by District Chakwal police.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2024.