This is a hold up: Robbers take six minutes to steal Rs6.8m

KARACHI:

In the fourth bank robbery of the year, five men barged into a branch of United Bank Limited (UBL) in Baldia Town and escaped with Rs6.8 million in six minutes on Monday.

The Saeedabad police claim that the robbers held the staff and customers hostage, and took the security guards weapons. According to SHO Tariq Islam, the suspects had managed to run before they got there but since the bank had installed CCTV cameras, the footage would be used as evidence. He added that one of the robbers had snatched the repeater guns from the security guards and threw them in the bathroom.

As no one saw the suspects arrive or leave the bank, the police did not know what mode of transport they used. The police have yet to ascertain if these men were involved in other robberies in the city. The bank staff and security guards will also be questioned. A case was registered on a complaint from the bank’s manager.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2012.