Shops in Quaid-e-Azam colony were closed and their owners protested on nearby streets after firing took place in the area earlier on Thursday.
According to sources, two robbers came on a motorcycle and started firing at people after jewelry shop owner Fareed refused to pay them money for extortion. Five shopkeepers were injured, including Fareed, 12-year-old Musawer Khan, Ghulam Anwar, Abdullah and Dilshad. They were sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where they were said to be in stable condition.
A police team reached the spot and assured the shopkeepers of their cooperation. The protesters then dispersed peacefully.
However, police later said that the culprits were not extortionists but robbers who started to fire when they were thwarted by Fareed and other shopkeepers.
SHO Khan Mohammad Sheikh said that Fareed had earlier informed the police that robbers had entered his shop, but later on he and other shop owners started saying that the two suspects were extortionists.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2012.
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