The djinn help hotline

A gang of robbers pose as djinns and call people asking for gold and cash.

LAHORE: Three members of a robbery gang were apprehended by the police for blackmailing and robbing women in different localities of Lahore.

According to residents in Nishtar Colony, Civil Lines, Model Town, Mughalpura and Lytton Area several robberies have been reported from their areas over the past month. “The group specifically targeted women, sometimes they would pose as beggars and visited several houses asking for money and sugar,” said Civil Lines resident Irum Warraich, adding “they asked me to bring them all the gold in the house and said they would be able to double all my gold in seconds. I brought them the gold and a glass of water and within a few seconds they had run off with my jewellery.”

Several Nishtar colony residents said that the group used to closely monitor the area and record movements of all the residents. “They knew how much money each family had and especially targeted houses where weddings were taking place,” Kashif, a resident said, adding “they would then call up the women of the house and tell them that they were djinns who could help them solve all their problems.”

Residents said that the gang members did this for weeks until they had gained the trust of the people in the house and then when they approached them in person the women simply gave them whatever they asked. “I just couldn’t say no to them. Everything they asked for I brought to them, it was like I was under a spell,” said Mrs Omar who gave two of the women 1,000 dollars and all her jewellery. “When they left I had almost no memory of what had happened to me,” she said.

One of the victims, Saleem said that his wife had been duped into handing over Rs75,000 and all the gold in the house. “When I asked her where all the money had gone she wouldn’t admit it at first. Eventually she told me what happened and I was furious,” Saleem said, adding that he told his neighbours what had happened.

“I discovered that similar robberies had taken place all over the area and eventually a group of us got together and went to the police,” he said.

The husbands of all the women who had been duped by the gangs, decided to trap the robbers and asked their wives to contact them. “On Monday evening, we called them over to a house with the promise that they would receive gold to help out with a marital issue,” said Sultan Khan, a Model Town resident. “When they came, they soon discovered that they were trapped and even though we apprehended three or them, four managed to escape the scene,” he said.

The locals said that they managed to recover some of the gold and money and took the criminals to the police and registered an FIR against the accused. The police, they said, weren’t pursuing the case seriously. “We had to go to the police station three times and the two women are already out on bail,” said Sultan, adding that a police official (under conditions of anonymity) admitted that the investigation was being stalled by some senior government officials.

At present, only one of the three arrested accused, Jawad, is in police custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2010.