A Salford hold-up victim has told how Tuesday’s knifepoint robbery by an armed gang has left her family in fear for their lives following a recent campaign of terror.
Four masked men armed with knives and machetes forced their way into the Ahsan family home on St Brelades Drive, Broughton Park, in the latest of three incidents.
The gang threatened to cut the throats of the family – and the father’s ear off – as well as threatening his terrified 11-year-old daughter.
Asma Ahsan, originally from Pakistan, told MM: “I will never forget this in my life.
“I don’t feel safe here. I thought this country was safe but this was life-threatening.”
Her husband Ahsan Nazir, 33, phoned 999 when he heard the smash at around 1.20 am after the gang smashed the rear patio door – but the men snatched his phone before he could speak to the police.
Mum-of-three Mrs Ahsan, also 33, said: “All of a sudden I heard my husband say ‘wake up, wake up, somebody is coming, they’re coming’ and I said ‘who?’.”
She thought she was having a nightmare at first when the men confronted the couple upstairs.
“There were four of them, they had a big knife – like a sword, thin, long and sharp on both sides – and they put it to my husband’s neck and said give us gold, money, your car keys,” she said.
“One of them pointed to my necklace and said ‘if you don’t take that off I’ll cut his ear’.”
The robbers tried to snatch the chain, a gift from her son, from Mrs Ahsan’s neck but she removed it and handed it over herself as she was ‘petrified’ they would hurt her.
The men then ran into the bedroom where the couple’s three children Zahra,11 and sons Mustafaa, nine, and Mohammed, aged one, were sleeping.
The couple’s daughter, Zahra, had woken up with the noise and the men approached the girl, demanding she take off her earrings.
Mrs Ahsan said: “They put a knife near her, she was terrified.”
As well as the necklace, the robbers’ haul included the couple’s wedding rings, one of which was 24 carat gold, Mrs Ahsan’s earrings and her husband, Mr Nazir’s watch.
The value of the jewellery stolen is estimated to be around three to four thousand pounds.
The men also stole cash, house keys and three mobile phones then, demanding the car keys from Mr Nazir, fled in the family’s black Honda Civic.
Mrs Ahsan added that she felt lucky the robbers didn’t hurt her children and said that her family’s lives were more precious than anything.
She said: “My daughter saw that knife on her neck and she was really scared, she was awake all night.”
In a disturbing chain of events, Mrs Ahsan revealed that, although this is the first time she has been robbed, she was the victim of two separate attacks last month.
First, her gate was broken and then her car windscreen was smashed.
She claimed she does not have any enemies and said: “Now I’m more scared than before.
“It’s all happening to me now, I don’t know who’s targeting me.”
Detective Sergeant Julie Connor said: “While no-one was hurt, the four men threatened violence in the presence of three young children who were clearly terrified by their ordeal.
“I would ask if anyone has any information about who is responsible or who has seen a black Honda Civic abandoned in the area to call police.”
Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 5361/51 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Image courtesy of Google Maps, with thanks.
