People travel in fear on Lahore-Islamabad motorway as crime rate increases
Highway robberies are on the rise in Pakistan, haunting the frequent drivers who once felt safe driving on the motorway.
Days after the tragic Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang rape incident, unidentified armed criminals robbed several vehicles on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway near Sheikupura and escaped.
Citizens described the rise in crime cases “alarming” and blamed the motorway police and concerned officials for failing to respond on time and protecting the citizens.
The commuters who contacted Motorway Police did not receive a timely response and later police reached the crime scene long after emergency calls at 15.
Reports claimed that several armed robbers first blocked the highway, near Sheikhupura Interchange on the M-2 Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, by putting tree trunks and bushed on the road to stop the cars. The robbers also fired with Kalashnikov rifle on the vehicles to burst tyres to stop them.
In one incident that took place between Hiran Minar and Sheikhupura, an eyewitness told Geo News that he saw nearly 20 cars halted midway on the road and being looted. He said the robbers donned a uniform similar to that of the Punjab Police’s Elite Force.
The eyewitness, who was an ambulance driver, hooted the siren in an attempt to scare the robbers after which they left assuming the police has reached the spot.