26 October 2004	Tuesday	11 Ramazan 1425

PESHAWAR, Oct 25: Police have officially advised local traders not to keep more than Rs10,000 in their shops as they cannot ensure safety.

Sources told Dawn here on Monday that the Hashtnagri police on Sunday circulated an official order in which they asked traders, most of them in flour, ghee and fuel oil, not to keep larger sums in their shops because they could not provide safety to their money during Ramazan, sources said.

It is learnt that the decision was taken after a robbery on the Ashraf Road on Saturday. Some masked men had robbed Mohammad Saleem, the manger of a flour mill, of Rs130,000at gunpoint.

"We have so many other important engagements during Ramazan ... that is why we are unable to provide security to ... businesses (located on) Ashraf Road," said an official of the police station concerned.

They had already told traders that they lacked manpower and could not provide fool-proof security to their business and had asked them to deposit excess amount in banks, the official added.

"With only 45 men, we can either look after the security at mosques in the area or increase deployment on the Ashraf Road," another official of the same police station remarked.

However, businessmen have rejected the police order and said that the state and its machinery were responsible for providing security to the life and property of the people.