27 shops looted as robbers strike at Saddar market again

Robbers looted cash and goods worth millions of rupees from 27 shops in Shahabuddin Market in Saddar in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The mass robbery in the market was third in eight month and led to protest by shopkeepers on Preedy Street.

Police said that like before, the robbers again entered the market from the back of the building and tortured the security guards on duty before tying them.

Brigade Police Station officials said that in their statements, the security guards told cops that they were sleeping when four men held them hostage at gunpoint, tortured them and tied them up.

When traders came to work in morning, they were shocked to see that their shops had been robbed. After being called to the scene, a police team arrived to inspect the market and collect evidence.

Traders’ protest

Irate shopkeepers blocked both tracks of Preedy Street to lodge their protest against the robbery incident. 

They parked motorcycles on the busy road and set tyres on fire to express their anger. They also chanted slogans against the alleged failure of the police to protect the market from criminals. 

The protesters said they had lodged several complaints with the Sindh home department and the Karachi police against rising robbery incidents, but the police had failed to provide adequate security to them.

The shopkeepers maintained that the police turned down their demand for security by coming up with excuses of limited resources, including insufficient manpower. 

Responding to reports of the traffic mess on Preedy Street and the connecting roads, a heavy contingent of police reached the scene and restored traffic after a two-hour closure.

Third robbery

Talking to The News, former Jamshaid Quarters SP Tahir Noorani said that the market had been looted two times in his tenure. “The market was first robbed on August 23, 2016, in his tenure and last time it was looted by the group of robbers was in December 2016.”

“The modus operandi was the same in both incidents, and interestingly, this time again the market was looted in the same way,” Noorani added. 

He claimed that someone inside the market was involved in the robberies. He said only those shops were robbed in which the shopkeepers had left cash before leaving for home. 

Pointing the accusing finger at the market management, he said the shopkeepers did not install CCTV cameras for surveillance despite repeated warnings.

Taking notice of the incident, Inspector General of Police AD Khowaja directed the SSP East to submit a report. He ordered the police to take the traders into confidence and make the investigation effective in light of the statements of the shopkeepers and the evidence collected from crime scene.