LAHORE, Nov 9: A Kuwait-returned family, deprived of foreign currency and jewellery worth Rs400,000 by robbers in police uniform in the Mahmood Booti area on Eidul Azha day, lodged a strong protest against the Baghbanpura police shortly after the incident.

The protesters alleged that some policemen standing nearby for Eid security did not react to the robbery call and rather stopped the victims from making an emergency call for at least 15 minutes.

Muhammad Iqbal of Gujranwala, who works in a private company in Kuwait, told the police that he was on his way home from Lahore airport along with his wife Zahida Parveen, two sons and two sons-in-law when they made a stopover near Ring Road to offer Eid prayers which were being offered on a grassy plot.

The woman was sitting in the van when a police vehicle stopped there and four ‘policemen’ carrying rifles and wireless sets came outside, held the woman at gunpoint and asked her to get her passport and luggage checked as she was sitting in a suspicious way.

The woman told the police that ‘policemen’ searched the luggage and took away foreign currency and gold ornaments.

Iqbal and his sons were later alerted by Zahida. The family told some police officials standing nearby about the incident who did not extend any cooperation to them and rather kept stopping the family from making an emergency call.

All family members flanked by locals chanted slogans against the police and held a protest.

Senior officials rushed to the scene and promised to arrest the culprits.

The family which came to Pakistan to attend a marriage, visited the Baghbanpura police station and lodged a robbery case.

Baghbanpura Investigation In-charge Tariq Zafar claimed that the suspects were apparently swindlers who used to target families at airport.

He said the suspects were riding a car and they introduced themselves to the woman as officials of a law-enforcement agency.

Further investigation is under way.

THEFT: Unidentified people took away cash, foreign currency, jewellery and other valuables worth Rs3.5 million from the house of a citizen in Kamran Block of Iqbal Town late on Tuesday.

Mirza Ashfaq told the Gulshan Iqbal police that they found cash and valuables including prize bonds and gold ornaments missing after returning from a treat at a relative’s house.

Thieves sneaked into the house of Fida Husain in Factory Area police limits and made off with Rs1.5 million and 12 tolas of gold ornaments all worth Rs2.17 million.

Thieves took away computers worth hundreds of thousands of rupees from the office of Nadra in Township police precincts on Wednesday.

Police took the security guard into custody for interrogation who claimed that the incident took place after he went for meal.