Cops and robbers: ‘Policemen’ rob bank in 10 minutes

Rs3.1 million stolen in pre-noon robbery in Faisal Town.

LAHORE:

Robbers dressed in police uniforms stole Rs3.1 million from a bank in Faisal Town police precincts before noon on Monday.

Three men in Elite Force uniform and two in Mujahid Squad uniform stormed into the Faysal Bank branch on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road at around 11am. Less than 10 minutes later, they had fled with millions of rupees.

Zahid Khan, a driver for a nearby madrassa, said that he had seen the robbers arrive in a white Toyota Corolla. Five men in police uniform got out. The driver, dressed in plain clothes, remained inside. He said he heard four gunshots from inside, and then saw the men leaving with a Gourmet bakery plastic bag stuffed with cash. The men sped away in the car towards Akbar Chowk, firing three more gunshots into the air, he said.

(Read: Another Friday, another robbery: Ninth bank heist of the year as Rs1.3m stolen in less than 12 minutes)

SSP (Investigations) Abdur Razzaq Cheema told The Express Tribunethat one of the five robbers, armed with a pistol, stood guard at the entrance of the bank while the other four, armed with SMG rifles, entered it. Inside, they told the guards that they were there for routine checking and asked to look at their pump action shotguns. The guards obliged.

Meanwhile outside, ASI Shamoon and Constable Abu Bakr approached the ‘policeman’ at the entrance and told him they were there for routine checking, said the SSP. The robber trained his gun on them, made them lie face down on the road and disarmed them, taking two privately-owned guns and an official Beretta.

Cheema said that CCTV footage showed the robbers leaving the bank with a white shopping bag. He said that witnesses had reported seeing the robbers carrying walkie-talkie sets. Some of them were also wearing what appeared to be police-issue helmets and face masks.

He said that investigators including forensics experts had collected fingerprints from the scene of the crime and were examining the video footage. He said it was too early to say who was behind the robbery.

He said it was possible that they were retired or dismissed officers.

Model Town SP Malik Awais said that one set of fingerprints had been obtained by the forensic experts. He said the robbers were not necessarily real policemen.

After the robbery, DIG (Investigations) Ali Amir Malik, as well as the SPs of Sadar, Model Town and the Crimes Investigation Agency, visited the scene. The DIG said that the involvement of real policemen could not be ruled out. He noted that there had been seven other big robberies in the area, which is home to several banks.

A robbery case was later registered against six men.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2011.