Robbers loot 13 shops in Zainab Market Karachi

Shopkeepers found padlocks broken, safe deposit boxes emptied of cash when they came to work

KARACHI: Unidentified robbers stole hundreds of thousands of rupees from 13 leather shops, located on the top floor of Zainab Market in Saddar, on Tuesday night. The robbers broke padlocks to enter the shops, looted cash and fled.

Shopkeepers told The Express Tribune that they found the padlocks on their shops broken and safe deposit boxes emptied of cash, when they came to work on Wednesday morning, at around 10am. More than Rs20,000 were stolen from each shop while none of the leather products were missing from any of the shops, they added.

According to one of the shopkeepers, Muhammad Shahid, it seemed that the robbers had surveyed the market before committing the crime and were well aware of the shops.

Artillery Maidan SHO Agha Aslam suspected the involvement of security guards, as well as that of others working in the market.

He said that robbers had used special cutters to break open the locks and CCTV footage was being acquired to identify and arrest the culprits soon.

Meanwhile, two security guards have been taken into custody by police during initial investigation.

Shopkeepers have appealed to Karachi police chief, DIG South and SSP South, to arrest the culprits soon and recover the stolen money.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2019.