Performance of Islamabad police comes under severe criticism

ISLAMABAD: The residents of the federal capital still await recovery of their millions of rupees as the Islamabad Police is dilly-dallying to arrest the robbers who looted them in multiple incidents on their way from banks.

Moving from pillar to post, the victims have been left just to hear the false hopes from the police officers. On September 23, 2020, the robbers had looted Rs 800,000 from Ishtiaq Ahmed, a senior reporter of Federal Capital outside his residence in sector I-8/1 after he drove from a bank in I-8 Markaz.

Ishtiaq Ahmed said despite the passage of over a year, the police claimed to have arrested only an accused who, too, died in the custody, which the victims believe had raised even more doubts.

He said, I-9 police informed in January this year that arrest warrants of two accused had been obtained and efforts for their arrest were underway. Exactly 11 months after in November, he again got the same reply with no substantial progress.

Muhammad Arshad, who was looted of Rs 1 million, after he arrived from an F-10 bank at his residence in G-9 on September 10, 2020, is also awaiting any action by the police. “I also raised the issue during online Katchery of IG Police. Later they called me to the Police Lines and apprised me of their performance. But my only concern is the recovery of my money,” he told APP.

Nasreen, whom the robbers deprived of Rs1 million outside her residence in I-9 on February 8, 2021, is also losing hope of any positive development. “We are getting no response. We approached DIG Police office but were not given time to meet him. Once they arrested a guy and called us for identification. Police were insisting us to confirm him despite our refusals as he was shorter than the one who looted us,” said her sister Tasnim who accompanied the applicant at the time of the incident.

All three above said victims were robbed on their return from Standard Chartered Bank – two from the I-8 branch and one from the F-10 branch. Another victim Aatir Ijaz, whom the robbers looted Rs 1.5 million at gunpoint in I-8 Markaz on September 30, 2020, also expressed his utmost dissatisfaction over the police’s performance. What to talk of recovery, they never contacted me for any development or regarding any query, he added.