Ring leader of bank robbery gang caught in Karachi

Azhar Maqsood alias Haji arrested along with two of his comrades

KARACHI: Police claimed on Tuesday to have apprehended the ring leader of an interprovincial gang of bank robbers, accompanied by two of his gang members.

The gang leader, Azhar Maqsood alias Haji, was arrested along with two of his comrades, who were later identified as Noor Aslam and Ayaz. Their arrests were made by a special team headed by District East Investigation SSP Omar Tufail and the arrests were disclosed during a press conference held at the investigation SSP office Tuesday afternoon.

The suspects, along with their companions, had robbed on May 3 a branch of United Bank Limited located at Junaid Plaza in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The arrested men, along with their comrades, Lal Badshah, Mehboob, Javed, Zia and Noor Khan, arrived at the bank in a white Corolla and a Suzuki pickup and looted about Rs5.4 million in cash from the bank and took a repeater gun and pistol from the security guards.



Sharae Faisal ASP Hamza Amanullah also claimed to have recovered the looted cash and weapons of the security guards which the robbers had taken while leaving the bank. ASP Amanullah said that looted cash amounting to around Rs3.4 million and weapons were recovered during a raid conducted at Masan Road, Keamari on information provided by the arrested robbers.

Police officials said that the arrested suspects belonged to an interprovincial gang of bank robbers based in Kohat and Mardan, adding that the group has so far confessed to robbing around a dozen banks from 2005 to 2018 in Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad, Abbotabad, Chakwal, Dera Ismail Khan and Kohat.

Cases against them were registered, while further investigation is under way.