NOWSHERA, Aug 24: A gang of highwaymen robbed nine passengers of a bus of their belongings at the main Grand Trunk Road near Ajab Bagh late Saturday night.

The passengers told Dawn that the highwaymen had cut a tree and put it on the road just a 100 yards from Dagai police checkpost.

They said that the driver, Mukamal Shah, had to stop the bus (Peshawar-1925) and the very next moment ten looters entered the vehicle and started collecting money and wristwatches from the passengers.

They blamed that two police officials of Dagai police checkpost switched on their torches from a distance to facilitate the robbers to accomplish their task in the shortest possible time.

The highwaymen robbed nine passengers of their belongings and collected Rs 65,400, six wristwatches and some luggage.

Later, the passengers blocked the road in protest against the alleged connivance of the policemen.

Meanwhile, the SP Nowshera has suspended two sepoys of Dagai police checkpost — Wazir Jamal and Arshad Khan — and registered a case against unknown highwaymen and ordered the concerned police station to investigate the incident.