In a major robbery in the city centre on Thursday, a gang of robbers broke into a jewellery shop and escaped with Rs1.5 million in cash and ornaments worth Rs 100 million. According to details, a group of 18 armed dacoits broke into the jewellery shop located in the main bazaar near the city police station, and the office of the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Saddar. The robbers thrashed the shop’s security guard and tied him with ropes, along with a sanitary worker standing outside the shop and some pedestrians.
Using metal cutters and rods, they broke the locks and the iron gate, and locked the hostages in a room in the shop after stuffing their mouths with clothes and beating them severely. The shop’s owner Seth Nasir said he rushed to the shop after being informed but the robbers had fled from the scene after looting “everything” in the shop. DSP Abdul Rab, along with police squad reached the scene and started investigations. After hearing about the robbery, the city residents protested against the incident and said that such events were taking place very frequently in Hafizabad. The Jewellers’ Association has announced an indefinite shut down against the robbery.