Simba Jewellers heist an inside job: police

Four of the six accused arrested, 1,700 grams gold recovered.

RAWALPINDI:

Insiders are believed to be involved in a Rs9.7 million gold heist at Sarafa Bazaar’s Simba Jewellers on Wednesday.         

Four of the six suspects have been arrested and 1,700 grams of gold, worth around Rs7.9 million, have been recovered from the shop of a local gold craftsman Aamir Mehmood, Banni police station Sub Inspector Malik Matloob Awan told the media on Saturday.

Two masked men had taken 2,100 grams of gold from an employee of Simba Jewellers, Haroon Rashid, at gunpoint when he was taking it to a jewellery workshop for polishing, said the SP. He said that police believe the robbery was planned at Mehmood’s shop on October 17 in connivance with his employee, Javaid Akhtar, an employee of Simba Jewellers, Muhammad Shabbir, and three other accomplices, two of whom have been identified as Muhammad Shamraiz and Muhammad Imran.

After the heist, Imran and the unidentified accomplice dropped the stolen jewellery at Mehmood’s shop and left with their share, the SP added.

He said that Akhtar and Mehmood were former employees of Simba Jewellers and had been fired on accusation of theft, while Shabbir was unhappy for being underpaid. “The robbery was their revenge,” SP Awan added.

Police have arrested Aamir Mehmood, Javaid Akhtar, M Shabir and Muhammad Shamraiz, while Muhammad Imran and an unnamed accomplice are still at large.

The SP said that this was the second robbery in Sarafa Bazaar in October and both were inside jobs.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2011.