SUKKUR: A cardiac patient, who was being brought to Sukkur for emergency medical aid after suffering a stroke, died from terror and delay in getting treatment, when eight dacoits attacked his ambulance on a link road in Chak taluka, Shikarpur district, on Thursday.

Zohab Sethar, son of the patient Abdul Khaliq Sethar who was an ASI, said that he and his brother Mohammad Hasan with the help of his sister’s son Jahanzeb Sethar were transporting his father from Chak taluka in Shikarpur district to a Sukkur hospital when the armed gang opened fired at the ambulance.

He said the dacoits attacked the vehicle on a section of the road near Qasim village, leaving his cousin Jahanzeb injured as he was hit by bullets.

The dacoits robbed all of them of their mobile phones, cash and others valuables and escaped, he said.

He said that they could not take his father to the hospital on time because of the delay caused by the robbery and subse­quently he died on the way to hospital. His cousin was also referred to a Sukkur hospital in precarious condition, he said.

Sources said that police arrived there a little later and went after the fleeing dacoits but could not arrest them as they had by then disappeared into thick forests in nearby riverine area.

The victim’s family staged a demonstration and appealed to IGP, Larkana DIG and Shikarpur SSP to take notice of the incident and ensure the robbers were arrested immediately.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2024