Protest of chemists and druggists is continuing in Multan and the 72 hours deadline given by the Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association (PCDA) was ended on Sunday. But Police showed its inability to apprehend the robbers. They have decided to observe complete shutter down besides suspension of supply of medicines in Punjab province from Monday. However supply of life saving drugs to emergency ward would continue till the achievement of objective.
Talking to newsmen Muhammad Akhtar Butt, a central leader of PCDA said on Sunday that dacoities were became common feature in Multan due to collusion of Police with robbers and we have incurred a loss of more than Rs 150 million so far. We had given 72 hours to the Police and administration for the arrest of the dacoits involved in the dacoity of medicines worth Rs 20 million but Police failed to find any clue of dacoits.
He said that traders would wear black armbands in first phase of their protest from Monday and in second phase they will give a call for shutter down while a delegation of United Chemists Council would call on Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to apprise him of their grievances.
Police have failed to find any clue of Rs 20 million drugs dacoity after lapsing 16 days and still groping in dark while the victim drugs dealer, Azhar Baloch has suffered critical health unrest. Local traders have widely condemned police impotency and negligence for delay in tracing dacoits and said that traders were feeling themselves insecure and unprotective.
It may be recalled that unidentified dacoits deprived a local drugs dealer from costly medicines worth Rs 20 million on January 16 and loaded the whole stock from warehouse in two trucks and fled away from the spot without any hurdle. "This is quite impossible to hide two heavy trucks in the city but police were using conventional tactics for tracing the dacoits", drugs dealers alleged.
Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association has strongly condemned police negligence and its failure in tracing two heavy trucks, which freely and independently reached to their secure destination with out any hurdles.
The association completely held police responsible for this high level robbery and threatened for strike for not apprehending dacoits.
About 10-11 persons riding two trucks reached at his life saving drugs warehouse situated near Chowk by-pass on Multan-Bosan Road while one of them jumped from wall and fastened night watchman and others with ropes at gunpoint.
Later, the dacoits calmly started loading of costly medicines including injections, tablets, capsules in trucks and left the warehouse at about 5:30 am on Sunday, January 16 after completing the task in six hours with out any interruption, he said.
However, police were of the view that investigation into tracing was in process and soon the dacoits would be traced out. However, druggists did not believe on police stance, adding numbers of drug vehicles were looted on busiest roads but police remained fail in tracing robbers despite making efforts by druggists.