Claim: A foreigner and five Pakistanis were held hostage and robbed on their way to Taxila.
Fact: A group of eight people, not six, were robbed on their way back from a hiking trail in Shah Allah Ditta; they were not en route to Taxila.
On 8 April 2024, Dawn and Express Tribune published articles claiming that a foreigner and five Pakistani nationals were kidnapped and robbed while they were biking to Taxila.
Imran Wazeer, a travel blogger, photographer and a close friend of one of the victims. uploaded a story on his Instagram account, sharing an image from Dawn, with a caption “False reporting by @dawn.today and @dawn.dot.com This is not what happened”. The image shows a gun and a news alert, “Foreigner, 5 Pakistanis held hostage, robbed en route to Taxila”.
Fact or Fiction?
One of the victims of the crime, Maria Jabeen, had shared her version of the incident publicly on her Instagram here.
According to her post, on 6 April 2024 around 7:30 pm, her group of eight people were robbed of everything they had on them at Shah Allah Ditta, on their way back from a hike. When the robbers asked for more money, they separated the group and kept some of them hostage for 3 to 4 hours, while the others withdrew more money from an ATM. She says they were all released together at 11:30 pm. Her account mentions 5 criminals, all armed, and she also states that the victims are in touch with the authorities. She also asserted that the hiking trail on Shah Allah Ditta and Trail 7 should be considered a “NO-GO” area, “since it is all connected”.
Upon seeking further clarification, Imran Wazeer, a friend of Jabeen’s, told Soch Fact Check that a Swiss national was with the group of eight people. He also reiterated Jabeen’s assertion that the group were hiking on a trail in Shah Allah Ditta, and not en route to Taxila, as some publications have misreported.
It is clear from Jabeen’s post and Wazeer’s statement quoted that the group were robbed on their way back from a hike that they had embarked on in the Shah Allah Ditta region. They were not on their way to Taxila and say they were never headed towards Taxila to begin with.
Articles published by Dawn claims that six people, including one foreigner were victimized in the robbery and that they were held hostage for six hours. It also claims that the group was biking towards a stupa in the limits of Taxila. Jabeen’s post contradicts this, as she claims that the group was robbed while they were on their way back from the hike, and that they were held hostage for three to four hours.
Express Tribune also claims that a foreign female tourist and her five companions were robbed by armed men “while exploring the cultural richness of the federal capital while hiking on a path to Taxila.” The article also claims that the tourists were held hostage near a stupa, however, Jabeen clarifies in her post that they were held hostage while they were on their way back from the hiking trail in Shah Allah Ditta.
Virality
On Instagram, the claim was shared here.
On Facebook, it was shared here, and here.
Dawn is followed by more than 3.5 million accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Express Tribune is followed by almost 3 million accounts on both platforms.
Conclusion: The robbery took place when the group of eight was coming back from the hiking trail in Shah Allah Ditta, they were not a group five, and they were not en route to Taxila.
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Background image in cover photo: Express Tribune
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