MANSEHRA, May 21: Four robbers broke into the house of a school owner in the Ghazikot village on Thursday night and took away cash and jewellry worth over Rs450,000, police officials said.

It was reported that the robbers, armed with Kalashnikovs, had forced into the house of one Buland Iqbal and made his brother, Javed Iqbal, hostage.

They locked the inmates of the house in a room and decamped with over Rs150,000 in cash and gold ornaments worth Rs300,000. Robbers were also reported to have beat up Mr Buland's two brothers, seriously injuring them for trying to resist the robbery bid.

A case in this regard has been registered at the Model police station in Mansehra city. Incidents of theft, dacoity and murder are on the rise in the Ghazikot locality and the adjoining township, but local residents complained that the police had failed to check the growing crime rate.