SIALKOT, July 6: Tradesmen in many parts of Punjab are finding the going hard amid unbridled lawlessness, with a fresh case of kidnap of two factory workers for ransom adding to the worries of the community.

The incident also exposes the police claim of providing protection to the traders in the wake of high incidence of crime against them.

Reports said some armed men barged into a factory at Sialkot tehsil’s Bhabariyanwal locality and kidnapped Mohsin Ali and his brother Ahmad Ali late on Saturday. They demanded Rs15 million ransom from the family.

The Uggoki police are investigating.

Just the other day, some gangsters sprayed a trader’s house with bullets. Mian Muhammad Liaquat, the president of Anjuman-i-Tajran, Sambrial, had reportedly refused to pay Rs5 million extortion some months ago.

On June 25, jeweller Mian Muhammad Saeed (Daska city) faced wrath of extortionists who lobbed shells on his residence for not paying Rs10 million.

The body of a kidnapped trader, Muhammad Shafiq, was found in the Upper Chenab Canal near Khambraanwala village a few days ago. A gang had kidnapped young Shafiq one month ago and demanded Rs2 million ransom which his family could not pay. The trader, who had tied the knot just two months ago, met the terrible fate at the hands of the ransom-seekers.

The Head Marala police are investigating the case and have so far failed to find any clue to the criminals.

In yet another kidnap case, some car riders took away a local flour mill owner, Muhammad Arshad Cheema, when he was going to attend the wedding ceremony of his friend’s son near Begowala (Sambrial).

According to a report, the victim was part of a wedding procession that was en route destination. The suspects demanded Rs5 million for the trader’s release. The case is in the books of the Begowala police.

Businessmen have expressed concern over kidnap-for-ransom and robbery and theft cases in Sialkot, Daska and Sambrial, demanding that law enforcers should take prompt measures to check the crime rate.

The Daska and Sambrial police, they said, had become silent spectators and they needed a wake-up call from the higher police authorities.