Robbed out of the airport: Gang of impersonators target international passengers

27 robberies over last eight months thought to be work of 7-member gang.

LAHORE:

Lahore police are tracking a gang of robbers who dress up as security personnel and who specialise in targeting people returning to Pakistan on international flights, with 27 such robberies reported at police stations across the city in the last eight months.

In most of these cases, the victims have reported being approached by three or four men, carrying AK-47s and wireless phones and posing as police or customs officials, seeking to check their luggage for foreign currency or illicit substances. The gang would take the victims’ cash and other valuables and travelled in a white Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic.

An Operations SP told The Express Tribune that at the start of this spree of robberies, most people were robbed in areas close to the airport. However, they have recently spread to territories in each of the city’s police divisions, the SP said.

Another Operations SP said that the gang had seven members, two from Lahore and five from Karachi, and they included two former police constables. Police also suspect that an airport employee is linked with the gang.

Cantonment SP Umar Riaz Cheema said that the gang’s activities in the area had been curbed by increasing the number of patrols at times when international flights are landing at the airport. He said that the gang had carried out robberies in Rawalpindi and Karachi too.

Cantt police, using CCTV footage, traced one car used in the robberies to a showroom in Samanabad. The phone call records of the person who rented the car were checked and he was found to be connected to an airport employee. Police said that they were still working the lead.

Most of the robberies occurred in the early morning and the victims were usually carrying large amounts of foreign currency. Recently, a family returning from Dubai was robbed half a mile from the airport gate of 7,000 pounds sterling and US$2,000.

Muhammad Ashraf, a passenger returning from Muscat, was robbed of gold jewellery worth around Rs600,000 by four men impersonating Federal Investigation Agency officials in the airport parking lot, in Sarwar Road police territory. Another man who flew in from Qatar was robbed of 5,000 dinars in July.

Mirza Faisal Baig, a resident of Aziz Bhatti Town, was robbed near the Askari X gate, in North Cantt police precincts, by three men posing as policemen. They took away US dollars worth Rs400,000.

This month alone, the gang has robbed Muhammad Mansha of Samundri of 35,000 Saudi riyals, Muhammmad Nizam from Faisalabad of 20,000 Saudi riyals, Sadiq from Khushab of 21,000 Saudi riyals, Adeel Hussain of 7,000 pounds sterling, all in Islampura police area. A man returning from Dubai was deprived of 18,000 UAE dirhams near Riwaz Garden. Another man was robbed of foreign currency near Qurtaba Chowk, and one each at Anarkali and Neela Gumbad Chowk.

The Mozang SHO was suspended from service for being unable to stop the robberies, with three such incidents taking place in his territory in a month, City SP Mufakhar Adeel said. “We are gathering the complete record of crimes of this sort from all police stations to study their pattern, which might help in catching the culprits,” he said.

SP Cheema said that the capital city police officer and operations DIG had told of the SPs for failing to catch the gang. “Special teams of senior police officials have been constituted and they are working on the case from various angles,” he added.

At the airport, announcements are now made regularly to warn passengers arriving on international flights to be wary of robbers. Asked about the possibility of an airport employee assisting the gang, officials there said that it would be hard to identify the accomplice.

Inspector Amir Raza of the Airport Security Force said that there were nine agencies that worked at the Allama Iqbal International Airport. Any one of their employees could be passing on information about international passengers to the gang, he said.

Airport Manager Amir Mehboob said each international arrival was inspected by first the FIA and then customs. “It could be a porter, assessing the wealthy passengers by their appearances and then passing on the information. However, if at all anyone is involved, they will be very difficult to identify,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2013.