GUJRAT: Scores of traders from the city’s major mobile phone and accessories market staged a protest on Ramtalai Road after Rs6 million were stolen from five shops by four robbers early on Monday morning.

The incident occurred in the precincts of Lorry Adda police. Reports said that four armed robbers entered Kashmir Plaza near Ramtalai Chowk during the night between Sunday and Monday. They overpowered two security guards and held them at gunpoint, while two of the robbers broke the locks of five different shops.

The robbers allegedly took Rs6 million from the shops and fled.

Led by Naeem Warraich, the president of the Mobile Phone Dealers Association, the traders gathered at the crime scene and staged a sit-in. They blocked the road to protest police inaction against robberies in Gujrat city.

The traders accused the police of delaying the registration of robbery cases and failing to curb the rising incidents of theft. Following assurances from the police to register a case, the protesters dispersed peacefully.

Police have since registered a case under section 392 of the Pakistan Penal Code against unidentified suspects and launched an investigation.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2025