Members of political, social welfare, trade and religious organisations on Sunday staged a protest against the rising crime in Taxila city of Pakistan's Rawalpindi district, local media reported.
The members of the organisations also protested against the police failure to provide protection to the people. The protest rally was taken out from Mughal market where three armed robbers looted a trader, Dawn reported.
The protesters, mostly political leaders and traders' representatives, said they were living in fear and panic. They said that robberies and the use of weapons had become routine.
They said police inaction had encouraged criminals to commit crimes in broad daylight in Taxila and Wah which had created unrest among the residents, the Pakistani publication reported.
The protestors said it seemed that criminals are above the law and police are supporting them.
The protestors further stated that dozens of motorcycles were snatched within a week but none of them have been recovered. They urged the chief minister, IGP and other authorities concerned to restore peace in the city, Dawn reported.
Meanwhile, the representatives of local traders said they had repeatedly informed the police about the rising incidents of robberies, but no action had been taken.
According to the Pakistani publication, former Punjab assembly member Umer Farooq, later told media persons that crime had increased because of inefficient police officers.
He urged the authorities to take action against criminals and punish them and replace corrupt police officers.
"The situation has created panic among the traders as well as citizens," he said, holding the acting city police officer responsible for the surge in theft cases. Zeeshan Siddique Butt, a local leader said three robberies in daytime were reported on a single day in which two traders and one family were deprived of cash and valuables worth millions of rupees, Dawn reported.
He said that a family was looted at gunpoint by two persons wearing a police uniform and they fired bullets over the vehicle when the driver tried to flee. Malik Amees Rasheed, a local trader leader said the increasing number of robberies and snatching of motorcycles and mobile phones in Taxila and Wah was proof of the incompetence of the police.
Syed Haider Ali Shah, a local political leader, said in the last couple of days robbers had targeted a large number of traders and snatched cash and mobile phones, the publication reported.
( With inputs from ANI )
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