Bank robbery: 17th bank heist of the year, Rs5.3m looted from Patel Para
Special Investigating Unit releases photographs of two suspects.
KARACHI:
Six armed men got out of a white loading pick-up and entered Soneri Bank on Business Recorder Road near Patel Para at 10:30 am. Roughly seven minutes later they left with Rs5.3 million, the rifles of the security guards and four mobile phones from the staff.
According to SHO Irfan Ahmed, the men were professionals since they took around seven minutes to complete their task. Security guards Wahid Khan and Waseem are being questioned.
The men first took away the weapons from the security guards. Once inside, they told everyone at gunpoint to lie down on the floor. They asked the bank manager, Kashif Chaudhry, to open the strong room. The staff called the police as soon as the robbers left.
According to SHO Ahmed, he heard the staffers say that the men were talking to each other in Balochi and Urdu, and were wearing shalwar kameezes.
District East SSP Javed Odho visited the bank and came away with the conclusion that its security system was not efficient and the guards were inexperienced.
This was the 17th bank robbery of the year and the law enforcement agencies have yet to arrest anyone. It emerged that in each robbery, the men first snatched the weapons from the security guards seemingly without any resistance from them.
SSP Raja Umer Khattab of the Special Investigation Unit held a press conference in the afternoon and released the pictures of two of the suspects, out of six, involved in the robbery. He urged the media to publish the photographs so that they could be caught. “The two men caught on tape seemed to be in a hurry,” said Khattab. “They didn’t take the closed-circuit footage with them like most groups usually do.” The video also showed that the guard was sleeping when the men came.
SIU press conference
Just hours after the heist at Soneri Bank, the police, in a desperate face-saving effort, announced that three alleged bank robbery suspects have been nabbed.
According to Special Investigation Unit SSP Raja Umer Khattab, DSP Bahauddin and Abdus Sattar went all the way to Kohat to arrest Gulab Shah, whose criminal group is allegedly involved in more than eight bank heists in the city.
When Shah was brought to Karachi and interrogated, he revealed names of two of his accomplices, Kamran, alias Kami, and Sher Khan, who were also arrested after an alleged encounter at a house at Katti Pahari.
The suspects said that they were involved in at least seven bank robberies - all of which occurred this year. They included the United Bank Limited Metroville Branch on August 26, Askari Bank in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on July 29, Faisal Bank in Golimar on October 25, Habib Metropolitan Bank at Hasan Square on September 30, Habib Bank Limited in North Nazimabad, Soldier Bazaar, and Rashid Minhas Road on October 6, 19 and November 24. They were also involved in looting money changers and kidnapping women.
Kamran also confessed to be involved in the murder of former excise and taxation minister of Balochistan, Rustum Jamali, in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.
Khattab said that the men committed the robberies and then escaped to their hideouts in Kohat and Parachinar. However, he did not think that the suspects belonged to any terrorist or jihadi organisations. “We haven’t found any clue to suggest such a link,” he said. “We are treating the suspects as if they belong to a criminal network.” The police also found Rs827,000 from the three suspects and property documents worth Rs4.5 million which they bought from the money they looted.
Three repeater guns, three TT pistols, a revolver and a 9 millimetre pistol were found from the men. The Suzuki van and motorcycle which they used in the heists were also taken into custody.
Khattab said that the police are on the lookout for Nasir Hussain, who is said to be the mastermind of the gang. Nasir was in police custody in 2005 but he managed to escape from Jinnah hospital where he was being treated. His other two accomplices, Hasan Jaan and Babar Hussain, also hail from Parachinar and are on the run. Others include Latif Afridi, Irfan Afridi, Karimullah and Iqbal.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2011.
Six armed men got out of a white loading pick-up and entered Soneri Bank on Business Recorder Road near Patel Para at 10:30 am. Roughly seven minutes later they left with Rs5.3 million, the rifles of the security guards and four mobile phones from the staff.
According to SHO Irfan Ahmed, the men were professionals since they took around seven minutes to complete their task. Security guards Wahid Khan and Waseem are being questioned.
The men first took away the weapons from the security guards. Once inside, they told everyone at gunpoint to lie down on the floor. They asked the bank manager, Kashif Chaudhry, to open the strong room. The staff called the police as soon as the robbers left.
According to SHO Ahmed, he heard the staffers say that the men were talking to each other in Balochi and Urdu, and were wearing shalwar kameezes.
District East SSP Javed Odho visited the bank and came away with the conclusion that its security system was not efficient and the guards were inexperienced.
This was the 17th bank robbery of the year and the law enforcement agencies have yet to arrest anyone. It emerged that in each robbery, the men first snatched the weapons from the security guards seemingly without any resistance from them.
SSP Raja Umer Khattab of the Special Investigation Unit held a press conference in the afternoon and released the pictures of two of the suspects, out of six, involved in the robbery. He urged the media to publish the photographs so that they could be caught. “The two men caught on tape seemed to be in a hurry,” said Khattab. “They didn’t take the closed-circuit footage with them like most groups usually do.” The video also showed that the guard was sleeping when the men came.
SIU press conference
Just hours after the heist at Soneri Bank, the police, in a desperate face-saving effort, announced that three alleged bank robbery suspects have been nabbed.
According to Special Investigation Unit SSP Raja Umer Khattab, DSP Bahauddin and Abdus Sattar went all the way to Kohat to arrest Gulab Shah, whose criminal group is allegedly involved in more than eight bank heists in the city.
When Shah was brought to Karachi and interrogated, he revealed names of two of his accomplices, Kamran, alias Kami, and Sher Khan, who were also arrested after an alleged encounter at a house at Katti Pahari.
The suspects said that they were involved in at least seven bank robberies - all of which occurred this year. They included the United Bank Limited Metroville Branch on August 26, Askari Bank in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on July 29, Faisal Bank in Golimar on October 25, Habib Metropolitan Bank at Hasan Square on September 30, Habib Bank Limited in North Nazimabad, Soldier Bazaar, and Rashid Minhas Road on October 6, 19 and November 24. They were also involved in looting money changers and kidnapping women.
Kamran also confessed to be involved in the murder of former excise and taxation minister of Balochistan, Rustum Jamali, in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.
Khattab said that the men committed the robberies and then escaped to their hideouts in Kohat and Parachinar. However, he did not think that the suspects belonged to any terrorist or jihadi organisations. “We haven’t found any clue to suggest such a link,” he said. “We are treating the suspects as if they belong to a criminal network.” The police also found Rs827,000 from the three suspects and property documents worth Rs4.5 million which they bought from the money they looted.
Three repeater guns, three TT pistols, a revolver and a 9 millimetre pistol were found from the men. The Suzuki van and motorcycle which they used in the heists were also taken into custody.
Khattab said that the police are on the lookout for Nasir Hussain, who is said to be the mastermind of the gang. Nasir was in police custody in 2005 but he managed to escape from Jinnah hospital where he was being treated. His other two accomplices, Hasan Jaan and Babar Hussain, also hail from Parachinar and are on the run. Others include Latif Afridi, Irfan Afridi, Karimullah and Iqbal.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2011.