Residents foil bank heist, catch robber in Karachi

Suspect was severely beaten and later handed over to police while his two accomplices managed to escape

KARACHI: Residents of North Karachi area of the metropolis foiled a bank heist on Wednesday after a suspect who tried to snatch a security guard’s weapon was caught by people.

Three suspects tried to break into a branch of Bank Al Habib at Sector 5C-4 Bara Market but remained unsuccessful as citizens caught one suspect who tried to snatch a weapon from the bank’s security guard, police sources told The Express Tribune.

The suspect was severely beaten up by the mob and later handed over to the area police while his two accomplices managed to escape.



The incident comes a week after a group of armed robbers looted cash from a branch of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Witnesses and the police said that at least three young armed men clad in shalwar kameez, one of whom was wearing a burqa, entered HBL’s Nipa Chowrangi branch, located within the limits of the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station, at around 3:10pm.

Last month, three robbers had been shot dead in a police encounter hours after they successfully robbed Rs1.3 million from a United Bank Limited (UBL) branch in Hyderabad. Although their two accomplices managed to escape, police claimed to have obtained details about the fleeing suspects as well as their facilitator.