| ISLAMABAD - The gangs of robbers and dacoits have adopted a novel way of committing crime by sending teenagers to follow and rob city’s wealthiest people outside the bakeries and big shopping malls in various areas of the federal capital, informed sources on Monday. Residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) are the worst affected of these new gangs of robbers and dacoits, they said.
Capital city police and other law enforcement agencies have badly failed in netting the crews of gangs of robbers and dacoits in the heavily guarded Islamabad. Recently, a woman also posted a video on social media, saying that she was chased down by two teenagers on GT Road near Imtiaz Mall and attempted to rob her off by breaking side mirror of car.
The criminals compelled her to open car’s window and snatched her purse. According to sources, a large number of gangs of robbers and dacoits are targeting some of the city’s wealthiest residents—both men and women—in a new and aggressive manner, sending out teenagers in multiple cars/motorcycles to find, follow, hit their vehicles and rob people driving high-end vehicles or wearing expensive jewellery and having expensive mobile phones.
In many cases, the teenage robbers intentionally hit cars of wealthy people and when the owner comes out of the vehicle to examine the damage done by the other party; they pull out pistols and deprive them of cash, mobile phones and other valuables. The areas, where these gangs of robbers and dacoits are active round the clock and targeting citizens are DHA 2,3,4,5, bahria Town and Gulberg Green, sources said.
The most targeted area of such gangs are included Tehzeeb bakers and Imtiaz Malls located in posh areas of federal capital, where there is no police patrolling or security is witnessed, they said. In some cases, the victims have approached police for legal action against such gangsters but no action was taken. A female citizen, who narrowly escaped a dacoity attempt outside DHA-2, shared a video on social media saying she was travelling to home from DHA-2 when a teenager suddenly appeared from somewhere and broken side mirror of her car at a U-Turn on GT Road outside Imtiaz Mall. She said as she lowered the window of car to speak to the teenager, another accomplice of him entered his hand from rare side window of car to steal her purse, which she swiftly held and the duo fled from the scene. Similarly, Haji Shehzad Farooq, a resident of bahria Town Phase 2, told
The Nation that a teenager deprived him of iPhone 12 on GT Road. He said a motorcyclist hit his car from behind and as he opened window of car to talk to him, the robber snatched his cell and fled. The citizens of federal capital have appealed the Federal Interior Minister Rana Sana Ullah and IG Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan to constitute a special task force to identify the cause of a sudden surge in ‘follow-home’ or ‘follow-off’ robberies, as most victims are robbed soon after leaving luxury boutiques and hotels, restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores and other locations where the gangs are scouting for targets. Despite repeated attempts, DIG Operations Islamabad and spokesman to IG did not offer their comments over the issue. |
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