Over 80 shops in Quetta robbed in one night
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QUETTA: Station house officers (SHOs) of two police stations were suspended on Monday after over 80 shops were looted in one night in the Pashtoonabad area of the provincial capital.
Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani has taken serious notice of the looting in the jurisdiction of these two police stations and directed the Balochistan Police’s inspection general to take action against the area’s police officers and arrest the robbers within 48 hours.
According to a traders organisation, a group of robbers had broken locks of 83 shops in Pashtoonabad and the adjacent area and looted millions of rupees worth of goods and cash. They escaped without facing any resistance around midnight.
The shopkeepers informed the police about the burglary in the morning when they came to open their business.
“Around 83 shops were looted by a group of robbers and such a massive robbery has taken place for the first time in Quetta,” said Abdul Rahim Kakar, president of Balochistan Traders Association, demanding that an operation should be launched for the arrest of the gang involved in the looting.
However, Quetta Deputy Inspector General Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that only 22 shops were robbed — majority of which were mobile shops— and that the shopkeepers were exaggerating the number.
Chief Minister Alyani said: “Negligence will not be tolerated. Action must be taken against police officials responsible for showing negligence in protecting the property of people.”
The shopkeepers staged a protest in the area and chanted slogans against the police. They demanded arrest of robbers without any delay.
The local traders’ community said they would launch protests and observe strikes across Balochistan if the police didn’t arrest robbers.
Quetta DIG Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that robbers tortured a watchman. He said show-cause notices had been issued to SHOs of Pashtoonabad and Khaliq Shaheed police stations. He said after initial inquiry, action would be taken against any officer who had shown negligence.
Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2019
