SHO suspended after 2 banks robbed

Robbers escape with Rs3.6 million from two banks on Friday in the limits of Sharae Faisal.

KARACHI:

In the first and second bank robberies this month, men escaped with Rs3.6 million from two banks on Friday in the limits of Sharae Faisal.

First, four men broke into the National Stadium branch a local bank and within four minutes took off with Rs1.4 million. Five people arrived in a vehicle at around 9:45 am. Four of them entered the bank and one waited outside, police officials quoted the witnesses as saying.

The police and bank employees said the men first snatched the weapon of the security guard Ali Asghar. They then took the bank staff hostage and started moving the money to their vehicle. They completed the operation swiftly, said the police. They spoke to each other in Sindhi.

Meanwhile, the branch manager told the police that about Rs1.4 million had gone missing. Police have lodged an FIR No 926/10 under section 392/34 on the complaint of the bank manager. DIG East Dr Ameer Sheikh visited the bank soon after the robbery. The Sharae Faisal SHO has been suspended.

During the second heist, eight men robbed Rs2.3 million from another bank located on Rashid Minhas road in Gulshan-e-Jamal. The robbery took place within five minutes. “They entered at 10:12 pm and left within five minutes with the money,” said Sharae Faisal police, quoting the bank staff.

Witness Muhammad Khalid said that the eight people had arrived in two vehicles. “Three of them waited outside and five entered the bank,” he said.

SP Shahab ibn Alam said that the five men first snatched the weapons of the guard and then asked the staff to stand up and raise their hands.

“They did the job within minutes and escaped,” he said. The police said three of the men were wearing shalwar qameezes and five were wearing trousers and shirts.

According to SSP Investigations East Niaz Khoso, the police had received CCTV footage which would help them arrest the criminals. “The bandits also damaged the CCTV cameras but we have back-up,” he said. When asked whether the dacoits in both of Friday’s robberies were the same, he said that they could not say that for sure.

In 2010, more than Rs2 billion was stolen from different banks in the city. Security agencies and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee believe that the stolen money is transferred to the lockers of banned militant outfits.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2010.