Alert! Sacrificial animals also on robbers’ radar

With the approaching Eid ul Azha season, bandits have found another way of making some quick bucks. After looting valuables from houses, cash from banks and cell phones from commuters, robbers have even started plundering animals from cattle farms.
On Wednesday, at least 35 persons armed with sophisticated weapons entered a farm owned by a welfare trust in the Landhi area and took away sacrificial animals worth around Rs 3 million in a 22-wheeler truck!
The animals had been bought for Eid ul Azha from different cities of Pakistan and were being housed at Saylani Welfare Trust International cattle farm located at the National Highway.
More than 15 workers were present at the farm when the robbers struck.
The bandits entered the farm by scaling the back wall of the farm with a ladder and took the staff hostage on gunpoint while subjecting them to severe torture.
Mushtaq, a farm worker, told Pakistan Today that after thrashing the farm staff, the robbers tied them up with ropes and locked them away in a room. “The robbers were speaking to each other in Balochi and also snatched cell phones and cash from us.”
Saylani trust’s Joint Secretary Aamir Iqbal said that the bandits entered the farm at around 4am on Wednesday. They tortured the workers and snatched Rs 60,000, cell phones from the workers and also took away the weapons of cattle farm’s security guards, he added.
“After torturing our staff, the robbers locked them up in a room and fled with around 71 animals on a 22-wheeler truck. They completed their operation in 2 hours and 30 minutes.”
At the time of the robbery, almost 700 animals were being kept at the farm.
“We have to bring 500 more sacrificial animals and requested the police to give us protection. But the police have not responded yet,” Iqbal said.
An FIR (749/2011) has been registered against unidentified bandits at the Shah Latif police station. However, despite repeated attempts, Shah Latif station house officer could not be approached for comments.