ISLAMABAD: A gang of dacoits looted cash and valuables from the house of a Pakistani-American family in Islamabad, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place at a house in G-13 belonging to an assistant commissioner posted in Karachi, the police added.

The police registered a case under Section 395 (punishment for dacoity) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), the police official said.

The police said the assistant commissioner was in Islamabad and had left the house to fetch water. Some time later, his housemaid arrived at the house, and his wife opened the gate for her.

Shortly after the two women entered the house, seven armed men followed them inside. The gunmen held them at gunpoint and first snatched gold bangles.

The gunmen then detained the residents and the housemaid in a room and ransacked the house in search of cash and valuables. During the search, they looted $10,000, Rs650,000 in cash and gold ornaments, including chains, bracelets and rings.

They also took American passports, American identity cards, National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOPs), American driving licences, property documents and a laptop.

The robbers stayed in the house for about half an hour before fleeing with the loot.

In another similar incident, a gang of five men looted cash and mobile phones from a business centre in I-9 Markaz while posing as government officials.

The police said five armed men raided an office and introduced themselves as government officials. They then held all the staff members hostage at gunpoint, looted Rs180,000 in cash and three mobile phones worth Rs800,000, and escaped.

In another house robbery, a gang of robbers looted cash and valuables worth Rs8 million from a house in E-11.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2026