I recently visited Chak Jhumra, a tehsil of Faisalabad district. During the journey by car from Chiniot to Chak Jhumra, I and my two cousins experienced a horrible incident of robbery on the road leading to Chak Jhumra which was in an extremely dilapidated condition with potholes and cracks aplenty.
Taking advantage of the uneven and badly damaged road, on which one could drive only at a certain speed, a bunch of robbers armed with automatic weapons appeared suddenly in front of our car as soon as the person on the driving seat slowed down the vehicle to negotiate a pothole.
The robbers dragged us out of the car and made us stand with our hands raised above our shoulders. They pushed us inside a graveyard and harshly asked us to hand over all our belongings to them. We quietly obeyed their orders.
Thereafter, they immediately powered off our cellphones and took all our belongings in their custody, thoroughly searched us physically and made us sit aside. In the meantime, another ill-fated traveller became their victim, and the robbers took away Rs35,000 from his pocket after they had already deprived us of Rs24,000. After spending about two hours in their custody, we were allowed to leave.
The provincial administration is least bothered about giving protection to travellers in remote areas/villages, especially after sunset. The damaged road connecting Chiniot and Chak Jhumra should be repaired without any delay, and at least two police checkposts should be setup at an appropriate distance on the 15km stretch of road. Besides, police patrolling at regular intervals should be ensured to avoid untoward incidents.
HASAN AFZAAL
KARACHI
