One of my friends recently told me that whenever he commutes in his car from one area of Karachi to another, he makes it a point to keep a cheap mobile phone with him, along with some cash, to hand it over to dacoits.
In the same context, another person, also belonging to Karachi, told me that while commuting from Mauripur to Gulshan-i-Iqbal, he was stuck in a traffic jam at 6pm. Three dacoits forced entry into his car. He was deprived of his wallet, a cellphone and an expensive watch. Later, one of them got hold of his laptop lying on the backseat of the car.
He beseeched them to at least spare his computer as he had some extremely valuable data stored in its hard disk. They didn’t listen and threatened him with dire consequences if he talked any further. Once the dacoits left with their booty, he was happy and thankful to God that at least his car had been spared by the dacoits.
If the dacoits had also taken his car, then he would never have recovered his vehicle. Only God knows for how long the people of Karachi will have to undergo this torture.
ALIZA REHAN
Lahore
