Bank robbery: Rs3.3m richer in 5 minutes

The men preten­ded to be custom­ers; securi­ty guards have been arrest­ed as suspec­ts.

KARACHI:

Six armed men robbed around Rs3.3 million from the branch of a private bank in broad daylight on Friday, in the sixth bank heist of the year.

The police have detained the security guards deputed at the bank because they did not put up a resistance.

Five armed men entered Askari Bank Limited in Block 6, in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, at 10:45 am. They pretended to be customers, while one more companion stayed outside in a white Suzuki high-roof van.

SHO Kenson Dean said that one of the five robbers started beating one of the two security guards shortly after they entered the bank. Later, his accomplices pulled out their guns and held the customers and the staff hostage. The armed men snatched the rifles from security guards Jahanzaib and Bahadur first and then looted Rs3.3 million from the cash counters, according to the officer. The whole operation took five minutes.

Police, however, have arrested two security guards as suspects. SHO Dean said that they were questioned for their possible involvement. The police also obtained footage from closed-circuit cameras installed in the bank, but it is not clear. They also collected finger prints from the scene and sketches were also made.

The police have registered an FIR, No. 551/11, on behalf of the bank manager, Yousuf.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th,  2011.