LAHORE – Robbers continued their looting in the provincial metropolis and made off with cash, gold ornaments, and other valuables worth Rs800 million in more than 150 successful strikes during the previous week. The bandits also took away 35 cars and 100 motorcycles from different parts of the City, thanks to the police for leaving the Lahorites at the mercy of the gangsters.
According to police record, three people were murdered and five others wounded on offering resistance during armed robberies in different parts of the city during the last week. The police investigators have failed to trace out the criminals involved in the robbery-cum-murder cases.
For an instance, dacoits on Saturday hit the provincial capital for more than two dozen times, robbed residences, looted motorists, families and passersby and escaped without facing any resistance. The bandits collected cash, gold ornaments, and other valuables worth Rs10 million in a day.
Five gunmen barged into the house of local trader, Muhammad Ashfaq, in the Nawab Town police precincts, held up the family members at gunpoint and snatched away cash, gold ornaments and other valuables worth Rs2.6 million.
Three robbers equipped with automatic weapons stormed into the house of Liaqat Ali in the (sector D-I) Township area. The robbers held up the family members at gunpoint and made off with cash, gold ornaments and other valuables worth Rs two million.
Gunmen forced their entry into the house of Mohsin in the Faisal Pak in the limits of Shahdara police and took away cash and gold ornaments worth Rs1.5 million after holding the inmates’ hostage at gunpoint.
Armed bandits stormed into the shop of Rashid in the limits of Manawan police and escaped after collecting cash and valuables worth Rs 2.2 million.
Thieves broke into a warehouse situated near the Center-Point in the Gulberg area and get away with cash, valuables and 177 mobile phone sets worth RS 1.2 million. The police are investigating with no arrest made yet.
A car-rider, Waqas, along with his wife was on his way home when two motorcyclists  intercepted them in the Gulshan-e-Shalimar area in the Shalimar police vicinity. The couple was deprived of cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 600.000 at gunpoint.
Robbers forced their entry into the shop of Basharat in the Shafiqabad police limits and snatched away cash and valuables worth Rs600,000.
Five gunmen robbed several motorists and passersby by setting up a picket in Saeed Park, the limits of Shahdara Town police and escaped after collecting cash and valuables worth Rs200,000.
Three motorcyclists forced their entry into the Shahid electronics shop in the precincts of Sabzazar police and escaped after snatching cash and valuables worth Rs150,000.
Two motorcyclists held up Mursaleen at gunpoint in the limits of Ghaziabad police and snatched away cash and valuables worth Rs100,000.
Meanwhile, thirteen motorcycles were either snatched or stolen away the Ravi Road, New Anarkali, Bhatti Gate, Badami Bagh, Race Course, Mughalpura, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Sanda, Shera Kot, Muslim Town, Sabzazar, North Cantonment and Kot Lakhpat police areas. Similarly, six cars were driven away from Faisal Town, South Cantonment, Model Town, Satu Katla, Johar Town, and Shalimar police vicinities. Two auto-rickshaws were also stolen away from the Hanjarwal and Township police areas.
Insiders reveal that the lack of police patrolling during the night particularly in the crime-infested localities could be one of the major reasons behind the surge in the street robberies. They were also of the view that the policemen sell the official fuel in the open market to min money rather than continuing armed patrolling aggressively to protect the lives and properties of the citizens.
The police jurisdictions of Defense, Garden Town, Johar Town, and Ghalib Market have become safe havens for auto-lifters as the police have badly failed to curtail this crime. Satukatla, Shahdara, Gujjarpura, Nawab Town, Sabzazar, and Iqbal Town police areas appeared as the worst-hit police precincts, where the bandits are striking brazenly and with impunity.
The second week of this moth also witnessed a considerable surge in the robberies as bandits stepped up armed raids and struck the City more than 200 times successfully. More than 45 cars and 80 motorcycles are either snatched or stolen away from different parts of the City from January 1, to January 8, 2013.