Street crime: Bank manager, colleague killed

Police suspect old rivalry triggered the killings.

FAISALABAD:

A Zarai Taraqqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) Satiana branch manager and deputy manager were shot dead on Tuesday by unidentified motorcyclists.

Saddar police said the killings were probably triggered by an old rivalry.

Police said the bank manager, Rana Naveed Anwar, a resident of Rachna Town Toll Tax Stop, and deputy manager Mazhar Gill, a resident of Chak 112 Ramdewali on Sargodha Road, were on their way to the Satiana branch in an official van, when two motorcyclists stopped them near Chak 226-RB Malkhanwala on Satiana Road and shot them.

Police said both Anwar and Gill were severely injured. Some passers-by rushed to their rescue, but they died on the way while being taken to a hospital.

Madina Town Superintendent of Police Nasir Sial and his team visited the scene. The bodies were sent to Allied Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Muhammad Ramazan, a witness, told police that the motorcyclists were masked. He said they had signalled the van to stop. As soon as it stopped, he said, both the men opened fires at the van, aiming at the two men on the back seat. He said the assailants fled as passers-by gathered at the spot.

He said some men tried to pull the injured out of the van and they called Rescue 1122, but both of them succumbed to their injuries.

The SP said that the incident seemed to be result of an old rivalry. He said the assailants had not taken anything away from the van or the deceased.

He said a police team had been formed to investigate the matter.

He said relatives and friends of the deceased were also being questioned for help in tracing the assailants.

Four robbers arrested

In Gujranwala, Civil Lines police arrested four robbers while they were inside a house.

Police said they received a call that four men had broken into a house in Faisal Colony in Sui Gas Road. When the robbers heard the police sirens, one of them fled. He was caught from near the house, while the rest were caught from inside the house. None of them was armed, police said.

They were identified as Abbas, Zulfiqar, Haider and Nadir. Police said them men said they were labourers and had hidden in the house after hearing police sirens.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2013.