Protest against murder of trader

Hundreds of traders from the city blocked the road outside Pims to protest the killing of a fellow trader.

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of traders from the city blocked the road outside Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) to protest the killing of a fellow trader in an attempted robbery.

Rafaqat Hussain, a 40-year-old trader from a Sabzi Mandi in Islamabad, was killed by five armed men who tried to rob him near the fruit and vegetable market. Angry traders from Sabzi Mandi placed Hussain’s coffin outside Pims and chanted slogans against the police for not providing enough security to traders. The protesters also burnt tires and blocked the road for almost an hour.

Rafaqat was a wholesale dealer of bananas in the Sabzi Mandi and was on his way to the market along with his manager Muhammad Shaukat. He was carrying a large amount of cash from the sale of his goods when he was intercepted by five unknown gunmen near the market. They held both the traders at gun point and one of them tried to snatch the money from them. When Hussain resisted, one of the gunmen opened fire at the traders. Hussain received two bullets and died on his way to the hospital. His manager Shaukat also received two bullets, one in his arm and another in his shoulder, and was shifted to Pims where his condition was declared to be out of danger.

Rafaqat’s body was handed over to his family after the post mortem. The police registered a case against five unknown men who managed to escape after the incident. The traders complained that police arrived at the scene late despite the fact that the Sabzi Mandi police station was located near the scene of the crime.  Traders from Sabzi Mandi demanded quick arrest of the perpetrators and also urged the authorities to make proper arrangements for the security of traders.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2010.