FAISALABAD, Feb 16: The killing of seven people by robbers near Sheikhupura in a foiled dacoity bid on Sunday has sent a wave of panic and fear among businessmen, specially those attached with the gold trade.

The Punjab Jewellers Association president and chairman of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry standing committee on gem and jewellery, Haji Mohammad Ali Rana said the jewellers’ body was considering to hoist black flags on their establishments in protest against the police failure to protect life and property.

Talking to Dawn, he said `outlaws’ were being killed in `encounters’ by police but the crime rate was still alarming. He said jewellers were being looted and killed even in broad daylight. He said the businessmen had been paying all sorts of taxes, but the government was not extending required facilities to them.

“We are being asked by police to hire the services of security guards,” he said, adding the hardened criminals were also killing the guards as they did in the Sunday strike near Sheikhupura.

Zahid Sherazi, association’s secretary general, said dacoities were the order of the day in the province as police had completely failed to discharge its duties.

He said seven moths ago some unidentified people had also gunned down two guards of a jeweller in Mansoorabad and fled with gold. Police, he said, were still clueless about the criminals.

Meanwhile, Amjad Ali, a driver of jeweller Rana Fayyaz who was among those gunned down by unidentified robbers, was laid to rest at a local graveyard.