Traders from Kasur make mistake of coming to Karachi

Currency note garland-makers robbed of Rs12.5m on busy road

KARACHI:

In another mega-robbery incident in Karachi, three unidentified suspects robbed Kasur traders of Rs12.5 million at gunpoint and escaped.

Traders Ramzan and Mushtaq make garlands of crispy fresh notes that are gifted to grooms on weddings in rural culture. They had come to Karachi for a supply of new currency notes, but lost their savings to gun-toting robbers on a thoroughfare.

Police said that three unidentified men robbed the traders, who were travelling by a pickup van on Shahra-e-Pakistan in Block-17 of Federal B. Area within the limits of Samanabad police station. The armed robbers also took away the pickup van.

As per reports, Ramzan and his partner Mushtaq, reached Karachi from Kasur at noon on Tuesday and went to Mithadar to buy fresh currency notes, where they purchased currency notes worth Rs7.8 million and packed them in 13 sacks.

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The paper currency was kept in sugar sacks to deceive any criminal that it was nothing important. Mushtaq's black suitcase contained his clothes and about Rs3.7 million in cash.

The traders rented a Suzuki pickup bearing registration number KP-6431, and callously put the money bags in the cargo bay of the van and left for Sohrab Goth Bus Stop to go to Punjab.

Though no one would doubt that two men riding on the back of a mini-pickup with sacks full of paper were carrying Rs12.5 million cash, the hawks roaming in the money market had zeroed in on their target.

Just as Ramzan and Mushtaq were passing the Water Pump Bridge, a hatchback slammed brakes in front of the pickup. Within a split second, two suspects dressed in shalwar kameez, aged between 30 and 35 years, held the traders hostage at gunpoint.

The suspects put the cash bags in their car, snatched Mushtaq's bag too and hijacked their pickup. Ramzan was scared stiff because informing the police would mean his business partner would be killed.

However, after travelling some distance, they released Mushtaq, after which the traders informed the police helpline Madadgar 15 about the incident. In this regard, Samanabad Police told The Express Tribune that police registered case crime No. 131 of 2022 under sections 397/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.