Traders staged a protest on Tuesday against the robberies in the markets in old city area.
The traders were reacting to a robbery on Sunday night at the Sarafa Market, in which bandits took away jewellery worth Rs 20 million.
Dozens of protesters gathered at the Kharadar market and demanded that the government should take stern action against the gangs involved in robberies.
The jewellers said it is becoming impossible for traders of the old city area to carry on with their businesses due to the increasing robberies.
The government, they said, had set up police check posts at the markets, but the law enforcers were not enough in number to arrest the bandits. The protesters also accused the government of patronising some criminal gangs.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Atiq Mir, chairman of the All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (KTI), said traders and customers are feeling insecure, as the criminals roam around at the markets with ease. “They come and deprive shopkeepers and buyers of their valuables at will,” the KTI chief added.
He went on to say that during the last three months, the number of robberies had surged by at least 300 percent, forcing shopkeepers not to keep cash at their shops.
