LAHORE: The city police seem clueless about a gang of robbers that has been carrying out robberies in uniforms of security agencies.

At least seven robberies have been reported to police during this month involving robbers clad in uniforms of police and Rangers entering houses on the pretext of search operations or conducting census. The cases were reported two each in Manawan and Barki and one each in Hadiara, Factory Area and Batapur.

Police authorities had started a number of patrolling projects, such as Police Response Unit and Dolphin Force, to keep a tab on the ever-increasing street crime. There are 700 Dolphin officials working on eight-hour patrolling shifts. They were given expensive 500CC Honda motorcycles.

A first information report registered at Hadiara police station on April 18 revealed that Kamran Ali, a complainant, said that seven to eight armed men wearing Punjab Rangers uniform entered his house and started searching the premises. The suspects gathered all family members, tied them up with ropes and locked them in a room. They then looted two licenced pump action guns, cash, jewellery and other valuables worth Rs1.2 million and left the house hurling threats of dire consequences.

In another case, Khalid Hameed of Revenue Society said he was going home by car after closing his shop in Johar Town when two suspects wearing police uniforms stopped him near Allah Hoo Chowk. The suspects asked him to get out of the car that they wanted to search. He said they frisked him, took Rs250,000 cash as well as documents of the vehicle before leaving the scene.

In a third case, Pakistan Air Force Squadron Leader Nuzhat Alvi stated that she was driving to a market in Defence around 8pm when two men on a motorcycle – with one dressed in a police uniform -- stopped her in a street near Ghazi Road. One of the men pulled out his pistol and ordered her to hand over all the belongings, including purse and the mobile phone. She said her purse carried Rs10,000, service and identity cards, but she was not carrying her mobile phone.

Data available with Dawn showed that 392 people were murdered in separate areas of the city in 2016 -- 87 in City division, 64 each in Saddar and Cantonment divisions. Five kidnap for ransom cases were registered and 21 people killed for resisting robberies. A total of 2,853 cases of robbery and theft were registered in the city during 2016.

Crimes Investigation Agency (CIA) Superintendent of Police (SP) Tariq Mastoi said that the cases had been transferred to them and they were working on them. Robbers wearing security agencies’ uniforms were conducting robberies in rural areas of the city on the pretext of carrying out search operations.

Revealing the supposed modus operandi, he said one of the robbers approaches the security guard of a house by identifying himself as a Rangers official, asks him to bring his weapon licence and enters the building. They later lock all family members and guards in a room and run off with the valuables.

The SP claimed that mostly nomads were involved in disguising themselves as security personnel and conducting robberies, adding that they would be arrested soon.

However, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Dr Haider Ashraf told Dawn that they were clueless about how robbers got police and Rangers uniforms.

He further some retired security agencies’ personnel could be involved in the robberies, adding that the incidents were carried out during late hours and he did not know if anyone entered a house on the pretext of census and carried out robberies.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2017