The Word of mAn[S]o0r

A major part of living in the big city... It doesnt always reward you with good experiences. Infact, a lot of the experiences sometimes suck!

Take this one for example: Cellphone Snatchings. An epidemic going on in the city of Karachi ever since mobile calls started becoming cheaper! Why am i writing about this now? well, cuz i always figured it was 'just a part of life', until ofcourse, someone close to me got hit by it (funny how that works out sometimes doesnt it!!).

Three of my closest friends had their cellphones snatched while waiting at a signal near the Baloch Colony Flyover here in karachi last thursday. Now here's the kicker.. these guys were in their car, windows closed, AC turned on, waiting for the green light, when three guys came up ON FOOT, rapped on the window with guns and managed to clean them out! One of my friends tried to resist, and how did he get rewarded?? they took his wallet as well.. so must for resisting!! The good thing was, they called the Rapid 15 Police service, which was, as the name suggests, rapid in their response. They quickly rounded up suspects and had my friends try to identify them. Unfortunately, no one fit the bill, so they said the investigation would continue...

Sadly, this isnt the only story i know about... so in this post, i'll try listing as many incidents i can remember.

• My cousin, walkin home from tuition at night was relieved of his cellphone at PECHS by guys in on a bike carrying a gun.
• Another friend, while walking home from a bus stop at Sindhi Muslim, was relieved of his cellphone ON THE MAIN ROAD IN DAYLIGHT by a dude on a bike. And here's the kicker, he was stopped again the next week by the SAME guy, and let go after he recognized him.
• Yet another friend was out with his family on boat basin having dinner, when two guys came up on a bike, and asked for their mobiles. When his cousin resisted (he was from out of the city and didnt know better) a gun was put in his face. Consequently, the guys made off with the mobiles.
• One was going along the wall of Gora Kabristan at night, trying to reach shahrah-e-faisal to get a bus, when he was stopped by a guy who asked for the time. He then proceeded to prod a gun in his side and ask for his mobile and wallet. He handed them over.. the guy took the money out, and threw his wallet over the side of the wall into the graveyard and made his escape. It took my friend the better part of an hour to get into the graveyard (at night) and retrieve his wallet.
• Three friends were sitting at a roadside restuarant at clifton, when three dudes, completely drunk, came up in a Suzuki Khyber, and asked for their mobiles. Only two of them had their mobiles visible at the time, and they tried resisting, until a SHOTGUN (thats right... not a handgun but a bloody shotgun) was jammed into their faces and they were asked again. This time they complied and the perpetrators made off with the mobiles. This story however, does have a good ending... the khyber was followed by friends of one of the victims to zamzama, where someone its tyre burst and it got stuck. The friends called Madadgar 15 and the perps were arrested. They had disposed of the mobiles somewhere, but still had one of the wallets they had taken, plus a lot of booze and ammunition. They were taken into custody, tried and sentenced to jailtime.
• This recent guy i met related a story of boarding a bus to get home from office, where four guys had apparently taken the bus under siege, with one manning each gate and two going through all the passengers taking their valuables. This incident took place while te bus was moving on its route near Old Sabzi Mandi. This guy had recently lost his mobile phone to a gun and had just purchased a new one that morning. He tried raising a ruckus, was somehow successful and managed to get off the bus without being relieved of his phone. However, the same cannot be said for the other passengers on that bus. According to him, this has now become a regular occurance.
  

And these are just the occurances i know of.... almost everyone in this city now has a story about something being snatched from them. Is this what living in karachi has reduced to ?? Who will do something about it? What can be done about it? Just how careful can one be?

I just say one thing now... May God Have Mercy On Our Souls! And Shower His Wrath On Those Who Support And Implement Such Heinous Acts!

Anyone else have stories to share.. Go right ahead!


Technorati Tags: cell phone snatching, crime, karachi, pakistan

And so said mAn[S]o0r on Monday, May 08, 2006 at 1:05 PM | Permalink | |