Weapons recovered: Two robbers taken into custody in Karachi

Suspects believed to be involved in August 9 robbery at alBaraka bank in Kharadar

KARACHI: Police investigators claimed to have successfully investigated a bank robbery in the city by arresting two members of a gang allegedly involved in the robbery last week.

As many as five robbers, with their faces covered in caps and helmets, had looted cash from a branch of alBaraka Bank in Kharadar's Bolton Market and managed to flee along with the looted money and guards' weapons on August 9.



The robbers, while holding the bank staffers, customers and security guards hostage at gunpoint, looted over Rs600,000 from the cash counter and snatched mobile phones from the people inside the bank.

The robbers managed to escape the scene after completing their swift operation within a few minutes.

However, the bank robbers did not take away the closed-circuit television cameras with them, the footage of which helped police in tracing and arresting the suspects.

This was the ninth bank robbery in the current year and was the second bank heist in the second consecutive day as a day before this robbery, a manager of United Bank Limited (UBL) was killed for offering resistance during a robbery bid at UBL's branch in Ferozabad area.

District City SSP Adeel Chandio, while holding a press conference Wednesday evening, informed the media about the arrest of the two suspects involved in the August 9 bank robbery in Kharadar.



A special police team was constituted to investigate the case and arrest the suspects, Chandio said, confirming that after hectic efforts the team managed to arrest two members of the gang.

The arrested suspects were identified as Maqsood Ali and Zahid Mehmood. Police also claimed to have recovered Rs135,000 and weapons from their possession.

"Ali has earlier been arrested and imprisoned at least eight times," SSP Chandio explained. "During imprisonment, he made new friends and planned bank robberies in the city," he said. The officer said that the suspects, during the initial course of interrogation, also revealed to have been involved in several other bank robberies in Karachi.

The officer said a search is under way for the remaining suspects.
Sindh IG Allah Dino Khawaja appreciated the efforts of the police team and announced a Rs200,000 cash reward for the policemen who arrested the suspects.