Police arrest robber minutes after robbery

Three other suspects still on the run; most of the looted cash recovered.

RAWALPINDI:

At 10am on Tuesday, four armed men barged into the Habib bank branch at Dhamial Road near Kamalabad in Rawalpindi and took Rs2.3 million in cash. The robbers, carrying repeater guns and pistols, held the two security guards at gunpoint and snatched money from the cashier.

However, minutes after the incident the police managed to arrest one of the suspects and recovered Rs1.8 million from his possession.

According to an eyewitness, the robbers injured the guards when they offered resistance. A nearby shopkeeper tried to lock the main door of the bank from outside, but the robbers opened fire and made their way out.

People in the market gathered after hearing the gunshots and tried to stop the robbers as they got into their Suzuki Khyber. They pelted the car with stones as the robbers drove off.

A nearby police officer relayed details of the car via walkie-talkie.

The car was spotted soon afterwards by police at Tahli Morri. They stopped the car, held the suspect and recovered Rs1.8 million from him. The remaining suspects were not in the car.

In a press conference, City Police Officer (CPO) Azhar Hameed Khokhar said that the arrested man is from Mardan district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The car was carrying fake number plates, he added.

The CPO was hopeful that the remaining suspects will also be arrested from the information they obtain from the suspect.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2012.