Taken overnight: 25 mobile shops broken into, compensation demanded

Shopkeepers in Kohinoor mobile market in Saddar arrive after Friday prayers to discover over 25 shops broken into.

KARACHI: Shopkeepers in the Kohinoor mobile market in Saddar arrived after Friday prayers to discover that over 25 shops had been broken into.

“It appears the shutters and locks for 25 to 30 shops were broken late Thursday night and shopkeepers suffered losses worth hundreds of rupees,” said Preedy SPO Qasim Ghauri. Mobile phones and other electronic goods were stolen from at least four shops and the total loss suffered is still being calculated. However, a police official said that only one shop had been looted.

“I have lost goods worth Rs300,000 to Rs400,000. From my shop alone, two cartons filled with mobiles were taken,” complained a shopkeeper.

There were two security guards on duty Thursday night for the protection of the market. According to Ghauri, one of the guards is missing and they suspect he is behind the robbery. The other guard is being questioned in police custody. He claims that he was on duty until 9 am but shopkeepers revealed that he was missing when they arrived in the area at 8:30 am.

There are no CCTV cameras installed in the market to try and identify the suspects, said Ghauri. “Although there are two entries to the market, one of them is blocked and the guards are supposed to guard the open entrance,” he said. The robbers entered through the gate that had a broken grille, he added.

“Overall, the market is safe. For instance, if a shipment is coming late at night we are informed before-hand and told to make sure our guards are on duty,” said a shop owner. “When the guards are on duty and robberies still occur, all fingers point in one direction.”

Electronic market association chairman Rizwan said that this is the fifth or sixth time a robbery has taken place in their markets. “We have informed all the police stations, CCPO, DSPs and SHOs but they have not taken any action yet,” he complained. The association’s president wrote a letter to the Saddar SPO on November 15, complaining about suspects. The letter said the association suspects the young trashpickers after they threatened the security guards a few times with robbing the shops.

Rizwan said the main problem is that the areas lacked police patrolling, especially late at night when containers come in for delivery. “It is mandatory for officers to be stationed in Saddar but they are too busy looking after VIP movement.”

The shopkeepers came out onto the streets of Saddar and demanded that they receive compensation for the losses they suffered. “We are trying to get them to reopen the shops but they demand the police take action against the group of robbers,” said Rizwan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2010.