Police crack mystery of ‘biggest robbery of the year’

Three suspects including driver arrested, half of the looted money recovered

KARACHI:

Police cracked the mystery of arguably the biggest robbery of this year as they claimed on Saturday that they had arrested three suspects and recovered almost half of the whopping Rs59.4 million looted by them from a builder four days ago. Three accomplices of the suspects are still at large with the remaining money.

On Feb 28, four suspects had looted Rs59.4 million from builder Raheel at gunpoint in Bahadurabad when his driver was driving him back home from his office located in Char Minar Chowrangi. The money was in the boot of the car. The suspects intercepted the car, made the occupants get down before driving away the car with the money.

The car was later found abandoned at a little distance from the crime scene, but the money was missing. Video footage from the CCTV cameras installed in the area shows the suspects taking out the money from the car boot.

As soon as police started investigation after registering the case, their suspicion immediately fell on the driver, Akhtiyar Saeed and police included him in the investigation.

DSP Tipu Sultan Qaiser Ali Shah told The Express Tribune that after the car was found, the driver advised Raheel against pursuing the legal action due to the “involvement of a huge amount of money”.

During investigation, the driver said that the colour of the Alto car used in the incident was white, while Raheel said it was grey. This discrepancy further strengthened the police suspicion which was not misplaced. Soon after, Akhtiyar gave in to police investigators and divulged the whole episode, from planning to execution.

The driver confessed that he had planned the robbery and informed his accomplices about the money his boss would be carrying home. On his pointation, police later arrested his accomplices Muslim Shah and Qadir Shah from Mujahid Colony in Nazimabad and Hyderabad respectively.

Police said that they have recovered Rs30 million from the arrested suspects, while a manhunt has been in progress for three more suspects who have been on the run with the remaining amount.

Injured in robbery attempts

The incidents of street crime continued in Karachi, with at least six people including a Rangers official injured while resisting robberies in different areas of the city.

Muhammad Asghar, a ranger official, was injured in the in the Sohrab Goth police station area after being shot by bandits. He was taken to the Rangers Hospital.

A local was shot in the hand in Godhra Chowk in the New Karachi area while resisting robbers.

Faraz, a resident of Korangi, was shot in the stomach near Memon Institute. Another man, identified as Muhammad Arshad, 55, was injured in the Bin Qasim Town area.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2023.