‘Inside man in record heist spurred by greed’

KARACHI:

The "inside man" whose discovery led to the recovery of almost half of the nearly Rs60 million cash robbed from a real estate developer in Karachi late last month had been working as a driver for the victim for five years.

The driver, Iftikhar Syed, in his forties, was employed by the real estate developer, Raheel. He also served as the family driver.

Iftikhar told police that he had planned the heist a month ago. Apparently, he was dazzled by the lure of money and decided to betray his employer, said investigators. Raheel also had no security, which meant the robbers could get away with tens of millions unchallenged, said an officer privy to investigations.

Iftikhar contacted his friends in Peshawar to share the plan. At least two of them came from Peshawar. One of them, who is already facing three cases in Karachi courts, was out on bail. There are three other suspects who are yet to be arrested.

The plan was masterminded by the one on bail at an apartment in Nazimabad.

On the evening of February 28, Raheel received a payment near Bahadurabad. He asked Iftikhar to hide away the bags full of money in the boot. In the meantime, Iftikhar made a phone call to his accomplices to tip them off about the money. Little did he know that this would become a key piece of evidence. Iftikhar's discrete call was caught on the CCTV cameras.

The robbers overtook Raheel's vehicle near a superstore in Bahadurabad at around 11am on February 28. They were on two motorcycles and in one hatchback car. They drove away the car carrying the cash in the boot. Later, they abandoned the car after retrieving the money and hid themselves at a rented apartment in Qasba Colony.

Police wanted to interrogate Raheel's driver and an office employee as they suspected an inside job. But Raheel insisted that his driver was not involved because he considered Iftikhar a family member. "I helped his children with their education and always gave him bonuses on festivals," Raheel recalled.

For clinical psychologist Asha Bedar, it is the glaring financial imbalance in society that tests the loyalty of domestic employees and could be one explanation for such acts. She views these cases from the lens of social psychology, saying it is about privilege versus vulnerability.

"As a (domestic) employee you see the jarring inequality every day. It stares you in the face. Hundreds of thousands being spent ... in contrast to the thousands you struggle with," she says. "…(the employee) cannot help but wonder how much harm it would really do if they took some."

They think that the stolen amount would make a significant difference in their life but not to their employer, she continued. "So, the mind rationalises and justifies it."

Mystery unravels

Iftikhar's phone data had a Peshawar number, which police found suspicious, and tracked it. They also contacted the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) and acquired a photo associated with the number. The image had similarities to the picture of the main accused as captured on the CCTV cameras.

Once Iftikhar was in custody, the mystery unraveled quickly. He was asked to call his accomplices to a location to hand over his share. Police said they arrested two of them with Iftikhar's share. They led the police to two other locations, where part of the looted money had been stashed. At least three suspects remain at large along with almost Rs30 million.

District East SSP Zubair Nazir Sheikh said that three suspects, including the driver, are in custody, while another three have been identified and would be arrested soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2023.