LAHORE – City police are still groping in the dark as gangsters have killed three people on putting up resistance during armed robberies in the provincial capital in the last 48-hours, police sources claimed on Thursday.
Robbers gunned down a 40-year-old trader in the Samanabad police precincts late on Tuesday night. A few hours later, an employee at a medical store was shot dead by dacoits on offering resistance in the Baghbanpura police area. A teenage schoolboy was shot dead by bandits during an armed robbery at the doorstep of his residence in the precincts of Factory Area, police confirmed on Wednesday. The police investigators have failed to arrest or trace any of the gangsters involved in the above-mentioned deadly raids, which virtually has shattered the confidence of the people on the streets in Lahore.
According to police sources, a 40-year-old trader, later identified as Tariq Akbar Bhatti, was on his way home when two gunmen intercepted him at the Muslim Road in the limits of Samanabad police late Wednesday night. The gunmen held up the trader at gunpoint and demanded, cash, mobile phone and the motorcycle from him.
Bhatti, said to be a shopkeeper in the Anakali, put up resistance and tried to overpower the bandits. As he tried to capture one of the bandits, the other opened straight fire at him. As a result, the motorcyclist sustained multiple injuries and fell on the road. The robbers fled away after snatching his purse and mobile phone. The police arrived at the crime scene when the robbers had fled away. The dead body was removed to the morgue for autopsy. The police have registered the case and are investigating with no arrest made yet. According to the victim family, Javed Akbar Bhatti, the elder brother of the deceased had also been killed during armed robbery last year.
In another incident, a father of three children was gunned down by armed bandits during robbery attempt in the Baghbanpura area, police said on Thursday. Gunmen riding a motorcycle intercepted, Muhammad Atif, said to be an employee at a medical store, and demanded cash and cellular phone from him.
As the resident of Salamatpura, Atif, offered resistance, the bandits shot him dead and fled away after collecting cash and mobile phone from him. The police reached the crime scene when the bandits had escaped. The body was removed to the morgue for autopsy. The police are investigating with no arrest made so far.
On Wednesday, an armed bandit shot dead Arslan Ahmed, 17, right outside his residence situated at the Millat Road in the Yasin Park. The gunmen demanded china-made mobile phone from the student of 9th class but shot Arslan in the chest as he scuffled with the bandit. The robber fled away on foot after snatching the handset, the local police said.
The Factory Area police registered the case against unidentified killers and are investigating with no arrest made so far.
Fear and terror has gripped many parts of the provincial capital since armed bandits are striking aggressively and with impunity amid poor police
“The Punjab government has badly failed to provide protection to the lives and properties of the citizens. As a matter of fact, the citizens are left at the mercy of robbers, muggers and dacoits,” Mahmood Ali, a local schoolteacher commented, when contacted.
According to police statistics, armed bandits hit the provincial capital for no less than 100 times during the first week of the year 2013, shot at and wounded passersby, robbed residences, looted motorists, and escaped after collecting millions.
“Armed robberies have become order of the day in the Shadipura locality. At least 10 people or families have been deprived of their belongings at gunpoint during the last nine days in the area,” commented Ali Ahmed, a resident of Iqbal Colony in the Shalimar area.
According to him, the frightened residents are unwilling to report the matter to the local police despite being deprived of their belongings at gunpoint.