KARACHI: Over 20 shops of a local market in the Jama Cloth Market were looted in the early hours of Friday morning, sparking a protest by traders against the failure of the police in apprehending what they consider is an organised gang behind such incidents.

Shopkeepers said that several thieves arrived at the Old Lucknow Cloth Market in a truck, overpowered two watchmen posted there, broke open locks of the shops and took away cash and other valuables.

Arambagh SHO Shoaib Qureshi said that the incident took place at around 5am and 10-12 thieves targeted some “specific shops”. However, he said the police had no evidence that the thieves used a truck.

The incident angered the shopkeepers who staged a protest against the incident and criticised the police for their failure to perform their duty.

A traders’ representative says around 300 shops looted in the city during past six months

The area SHO said that investigators visited the crime scene but shopkeepers told them that they would lodge an FIR after consulting their association.

All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI) chairman Atiq Mir said that it was an organised gang of thieves which used a truck as their mode of transport.

He said that whenever a truck was unloaded in a market police reached the spot immediately to take a ‘bribe’ from shopkeepers concerned but this time round no policemen came there.

Mr Mir said that around 28 to 30 shops were looted and around Rs5-6 million was taken away along with other valuables.

He said that previously markets were looted by a “tala tor” group that comprised of three to four criminals, but now it appeared that an organised gang had been formed in the metropolis to take advantage of markets’ closure due to holiday or a strike-like situation.

He said that during the past six months, around 300 shops had been looted mostly in Saddar and Old City area.

The AKTI chief suggested that time had now come that the traders stop relying on law-enforcers and should install CCTV cameras and hire services of armed security guards to avoid such incidents in future.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of the theft incident and sought a detailed report from the DIG of South zone.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2018