Police have failed to protect businessmen and traders in Faisalabad, office bearers of various trade organisations of Faisalabad said at a press conference on Friday.
The press conference was organised to condemn the killing of a local trader, Abdur Rehman.
The office bearers of more than 20 trade organisations said if those responsible for the murder were not arrested within 72 hours, traders would go on an indefinite strike.
Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) Senior Vice President Nadeem Allahwala said 35-year-old Abdur Rehman of Fazal-i-Rabbi Dyeing was parking his car near Koh-i-Noor Plaza at Jaranwala Road near Peoples Colony police station when some men on a motorcycle robbed him at gunpoint.
“When Rehman resisted, the men shot and killed him,” he said.
He said last week, Ali Asghar, another trader, was gunned down by robbers near Factory Area police station.
He said some robbers had also stolen a journalist’s car in Peoples Colony.
Mehmood Alam Jutt, general secretary of the Anjuman Tajiran Faisalabad, said 10 armed men had robbed employees of Sitara Spinning Mills and taken away cloth worth millions of rupees.
He said the traders had complained about these incidents to the police but so far, no suspect had been arrested. He said police were claiming to have beefed up security in the city but the increasing crime rate pointed to their inefficiency.
Traders protest jewel heist in Sahiwal
Scores of traders on Thursday held a demonstration against the police for failing to promptly respond to a robbery at two jewellery stores in Sahiwal.
Anjuman-i-Tajiran Sahiwal president Malik Ghulam Hussain and general secretary Rana Nisar told newsmen that late on Wednesday night, some 14 men robbed two jewellery stores – Zain Jewellers and Faisal Jewellers – at the main bazaar in the city.
Hussain said the men had arrived in two cars with sirens on. He said they told guards at the stores at they were from the Federal Investigation Agency. He said the men had asked to inspect the guards’ weapons.
“One of them was holding a clipboard and was making notes,” he said.
They told the four security guards present there that there was a terrorist threat in the area and then beat them for not doing their jobs well. One of the guards, Sabir Ayub, was seriously injured. The men then tied up the guards and put duct tape on their mouths.
Hussain said their accomplices cut the locks of the stores and broke in. He said they took away jewellery worth millions of rupees. He said they also broke the strong boxes at the shops and took away hundreds of thousands of rupees.
They left the guards tied up in the shops.
He said the men also robbed a passerby on their way out.
Traders observed a shutter-down strike in protest. They also chanted slogans against the police for failing to curb crime in the area.
Hussain said the police had failed to respond to calls for help and had arrived at the scene an hour after the men left.
Traders chanted slogans against SP Attaur Rehman and DSP Ghulam Jillani who had registered the case. They threatened to remain on strike till the robbers were arrested.
A police team later met with the protesters and assured them that efforts to find and arrest the suspects were underway.
Traders then called off their protest and dispersed peacefully, threatening to go on an indefinite strike if the perpetrators were not arrested and security was not beefed up.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.