Four armed robbers hijacked a Qingqi rickshaw carrying three sacrificial sheep at gunpoint in Karachi’s Ayesha Manzil area, police said on Friday.

According to a first information report (FIR), the complainant Mohammed Rashid Saleem said that he had purchased three sheep and was carrying them in his Qingqi rickshaw on Thursday when the incident occurred.

“Four suspects riding on two motorcycles snatched the rickshaw along with the animals at gunpoint and fled,” the FIR read, adding that the suspects also snatched cash and a cell phone from the victim.

According to a statement from the Karachi Police spokesperson, the Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Javed Alam Odho took notice of the incident and ordered action against the Azizabad station house officer for negligence, issuing orders to suspend his service for one year.

The AIG ordered that the suspects involved in the incident must be arrested within three days, with the recovery of the animals and rickshaw, otherwise, strict legal action will be taken, the statement added.

Days before Eidul Azha, people rush to cattle markets to buy sacrificial animals, with sheep usually costing upwards of Rs30,000.

In 2023, five animals worth Rs800,000 were stolen from a locked shop in Karachi’s Orangi Town, according to ARY News. The incident pointed to the growing security concerns around cattle markets, later raised in the Sindh Assembly.