RAHIM YAR KHAN: A gang of six dacoits took away Rs3.5 million cash and 34 tolas of gold from the house of a grain market trader here in Trust Colony in the wee hours of Friday.

According to police, six unidentified dacoits reached outside the house of Muhammad Asghar, the owner of a commission shop, near Aysha Masjid in Trust Colony at 4am.

The dacoits first cut the cables of the CCTV cameras and entered the house throughthe roofof an adjoining under-construction building.

They took the trader and his family hostage at gunpoint, collected the cash kept in two rooms, along 34 tola gold and fled away.

According to the trader, the police despite being immediately informed of the incident, reached his house after an hour.

Asghar told reportersthat he suffered a total loss of more than Rs10 million in the dacoity.

It was a third incident of dacoity during the last few days in the city.

days.

Meanwhile, gunmen also looted a motorcyclist at an intersection near the District Police Office office. The Police Lines and the District Rangers Headquarters are also situated in the vicinity.

At an event hosted by Rahim Yar Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RYKCCI) a day earlier (Thursday), the local business community expressed its concern over the surge in crime in the district in the presence of the deputy commissioner (DC) and the district police officer.

The RYKCCI president and other members said that as the local police were focusing on operation against the criminals in Kacha (riverine) areas involved in kidnap for ransom, the incidents of robbery were rising in the urban areas.