Six men looted a private bank on Monday, taking away Rs6 million. They also attacked and injured the guards at the bank.
The banks had first said that Rs3 million had been taken away but a few hours later revised the amount of the loot to Rs6 million.
According to bank officials, six men came to Meezan bank’s Chungi No9 branch at 3:30 in the afternoon, carrying bags. They introduced themselves as businessmen and said that they wanted to open accounts at the bank. Shortly afterwards, however, they put on masks and took out hammers and iron hooks. The three guards on duty, said bank officials, realised too late what had happened. They tried to draw their weapons but were overpowered by the robbers, who took their weapons and attacked the guards with hammers and iron hooks. The robbers took the guards’ guns with them.
The police were informed after the robbers left. The guards – Abbas, Shabbir and Abdul Sattar –were taken to Nishtar Hospital. Doctors treating them told The Express Tribune that they were conscious and out of danger. The guards had received blows to the head and shoulder, said the doctors, which had initially worried them. The guards, however, suffered hair line fractures to the arms and shoulders.
A police team led by CPO Amir Zulfiqar, SSP Gohar Nafees and SP Rana Mansoor reached the spot around 5pm and sealed the area.
SSP (Operations) Gauhar Nafees told The Tribune that the police were “considering all possibilities” including that the robbers were part of a terrorist organisation.
Nafees said witnesses had told police that the men were between 30 and 40 years of age and were conversing in Pashto.
Two banks in Multan were looted in May and July.
Two men had been killed in the July robbery at the Habib Bank Limited in the Sheetal Mari area.
Police had held the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) responsible for the robberies.
On August 1, they had claimed to have killed Abdul Ghaffar Qaisarani, of Taunsa – the man they said had been tasked by the TTP to raise funds through bank robberies – in an encounter in Dera Ghazi Khan.
Bomb found
Police found, on Sunday night, a locally made bomb from an aggregate dump, which was later defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad.
The police were searching the area after two low-intensity bombs went off in the area on Saturday.
The team found the bomb hidden in a crate of mangoes. Officials said that a kilogramme of explosives had been used in the bomb. Police said the aggregate dump was on a property owned by Sial Building Store.
They said they were interrogating the owner Malik Arshad Sial.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2012.
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