Police arrest robbers who looted citizens in mosque

CCTV footage of the robbers looting the citizens at gunpoint in the mosque had gone viral

KARACHI: The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Sindh Police claimed to have arrested the dacoits responsible for looting citizens in a mosque, Masjid-e-Mustafa, in Dhoraji Colony around a week ago.

The incident had taken place on November 9, when the robbers had looted two citizens in the ablution area of the mosque. The CCTV footage of the incident had gone viral and police were under pressure to apprehend the suspects.

Police arrest 9 members of a dacoit group

On Sunday, the SIU's SSP Noman Siddiqui disclosed the suspects' arrests in a press conference. Sharing details of the incident, SSP Siddiqui said that the robbers had looted Rs250,000 from a citizen, Muhammad Imran, son of Muhammad Iqbal. The victim was carrying the money when he came to offer prayers as he had been unable to deposit the same as the bank timings had ended. The robbers had chased him all the way to the mosque and snatched the money at gunpoint.

According to SSP Siddiqui, the robbers were identified as Iqbal, son of Taj Muhammad, Rizwan Ali, son of Umar Hayat and Muhammad Munir, son of Muhammad Banaras. He added that the police also seized illegal weapons during the operation conducted in the jurisdiction of Garden Police Station.

SSP Siddiqi said that the accused, who were involved in several other incidents of robberies from people who drew money from ATMs, had seen Muhammad Imran coming out of a bank so they chased him and robbed him of the money. The accused have been arrested several times in the past. One of the suspects, Iqbal, is nominated in nine cases, while Rizwan and Munir are nominated in five cases registered in different police stations of the city.

The SSP further said that Rizwan was handed over to the police by his own father when he was arrested for the very first time and that he is suffering from Tuberculosis for the last several months.

Police arrest gang of street criminals

More arrests

Meanwhile, SIU Police claimed to have arrested four more accused, identified as Imtiaz Ali, son of Mohib Ali, Amir Bakhsh alias Faqeera, Ibrahim son of Hannan and Ajab Khan, during an operation in North Karachi and seized illegal weapons, stolen cash, drugs, a motorcycle and mobile phones from their possession. The arrested accused were involved in snatching money from citizens coming out of ATM chambers near Board Office, Hanif Hospital, Hyderi Market, North Nazimabad, Five Star Chowrangi , Post Office, Ziauddin Hospital and Kati Pahari.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2019.