MIANWALI, April 6 Political workers, traders, clerks and activists from civil society held a demonstration to protest rising incidents of crime, especially burglaries.

The demonstrators gathered at Railway Station Chowk in the morning and later marched on different roads to reach Jehaz Chowk near DPO`s office where they blocked the road, threw traffic out of gear for couple of hours and chanted slogans against the district administration.

The traders claimed that many shops in the city`s eight bazaars had been looted in a week.

Journalists had also set up a protest camp in Jehaz Chowk where they observed token hunger strike. The demonstrators also demanded immediate transfer of DPO Akbar Nasir Khan for his failure to control crime in the district.

Speaking on the occasion, DCO Wasim Ajmal Chaudry assured the demonstrators that the police would be directed to arrest the outlaws at the earliest. He said he was also worried about the alarming security situation. He appealed to the people to strengthen the hands of the district administration to eradicate crime. The DCO later requested the demonstrators to lift the blockade, which they did.

LOOTED Four robbers deprived DDO (R) Captain Adil Umer (retired) and his family of cash and valuables worth hundreds of thousands of rupees near Dhak Mountains on Mianwali-Rawalpindi Road, some 30 kilometres away from here, on Sunday night.

After spending his weekend in Peshawar, the DDO (R) was on his way to Mianwali in his private car along with his wife and two children when they were intercepted by the robbers in mountainous terrain in Musakhel police precincts.

The robbers took Umer and his family to a deserted link road after crossing a check post near the police station where they deprived them of valuables, including Rs100,000 in cash, two cellular phone sets and gold jewellery.

The robbers, wearing beards on their faces, took Umer hostage and told his wife to take her children along with her to Mianwali in their car, however, she refused to leave the place without her spouse.

The robbers kept the family hostage for around two hours and later abandoned them and fled.

On the instructions of DCO, the Musakhel police registered a case against the four suspects.

Talking to Dawn, Inspector Meher Khan, the Musakhel SHO, said that many gangs of culprits, including proclaimed offenders, were hiding in Chidroo mountainous terrain and they commit heinous crimes, more often kidnapping for ransom.

When contacted, Umer said that he could recognise the culprits on seeing them.

STOLEN Thieves took away motorbike from the house of a bank manager on Sunday night. The thieves entered Muhammad Anwar`s house in Mohallah Ballokhel by scaling the boundary wall and took away his Honda motorcycle (MID-2005).

ROBBERY Four robbers entered the house of Amanullah Khan, a businessman, in Chapri village, took the inmates on gunpoint and fled after collecting cash, gold ornaments worth 100,000 and other valuables. The Kamarmishani police registered a case.