SHIKARPUR, Sept 22: As many as six persons including the driver of a passenger coach were injured in separate robberies on Indus Highway along Khanpur area on late Sunday night.

Highwaymen intercepted three Karachi-bound passenger coaches coming from Peshawar near Pathan Wah on Shikarpur-Kandhkot road. They reportedly opened fire on these vehicles to stop them so as to carry on with their looting spree. Due to this indiscriminate firing, five passengers identified as Habib Khan, Yasin Malik, Zulfiqar Ali, Aziz Khan and Gul Mohammad sustained bullet wounds. However, the bandits swiftly fled the scene after depriving the passengers of cash, cellphones and other valuables.

In a similar incident, passengers of a Rawalpindi-bound coach coming from Quetta were deprived of valuables just a few kilometres away from the point where passengers of the three Karachi-bound coaches had been looted.

Around 20 bandits had intercepted the coach and opened fire that left the driver of the vehicle, Moosa Khan, injured. The injured was shifted to the Khanpur Hospital for necessary treatment.

On the same night, eight dacoits allegedly intercepted trailers, trucks and other vehicles near Khandoo Laro and deprived their occupants of cash, cellphones and other valuables.

Subsequently, the affected transporters and passengers staged protest demonstrations and blocked the Shikarpur-Kandhkot road to protest these incidents. The demonstrations affected the flow of vehicular traffic, which, however, was restored after the police authorities assured the victims that the culprits would be arrested soon and their looted valuables would be recovered. The road remained blocked till Sehr.

Meanwhile, four other incidents of motorcycle-snatching and car lootings occurred on Monday morning in the jurisdiction of the Khanpur police station.

Our Naushahro Feroze correspondent adds: Robbers looted Rs150,000 from the salesman of a mobile phone company in Moro on Monday.

Two unidentified armed men looted Akhlaq Ahmed Sehar when he was going on a motorcycle near fruit market at about 12 noon.

The shopkeepers of Shahi Bazaar and other markets, including electronics observed shutterdown strike for three hours. They took out a rally and staged a sit-in on the National Highway in Moro town. They burnt tyres and demanded arrest of culprits and recovery of the looted money.

They alleged that police was ineffective hence criminals were free to indulge in unlawful activities.

Moro SPO Inayat Bhatti reached the spot and tried to convince protesters but they refused.

Later, DPO Naushahro Feroze Nisar Channa contacted protesters including victim Akhlaq Ahmed and Shahjehan Memon and on his assurance they dispersed peacefully.

Meanwhile, a closed electronics shop was burnt due to electric short circuit while its owner was protesting against salesman’s looting.

When contacted, DPO Nisar Ahmed Channa said he was not sure of robbery incident taking place. He said that the SPO Moro brought protesters, including the victim in his office where he saw the shirt and pants of the alleged victim Akhlaq Ahmed tattered.

He enquired as to how the victim’s clothes were torn when robbers looted the money at gunpoint. However, he said that an inquiry would be conducted.