CPLC offers its expertise in nabbing culprits of Edhi Centre heist

Police investigating background of serving, former employees

KARACHI: Relying on technical assistance from the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), the police have expanded the scope of the investigation of the Rs50 million heist at Edhi Foundation on Sunday.

Karachi police have also announced a Rs1 million reward for whoever can lead them to the culprits. They are investigating the backgrounds of both current and former employees. The law enforcers took Tariq, one of the staff members, into custody on Sunday but the interrogation did not yield much, a police official said, adding that Tariq is still in police custody.

The police have also collected statements and cellphone details of around two dozen men and women serving and former staff members of the foundation. "We are also looking into their family background and history," a police investigator, privy to the matter, said.

Police officials said that five robbery suspects, arrested during various raids in the city, were going to help them trace the culprits. They also said that some staff members had identified one of the robbers who was unmasked during the heist.

Faisal Edhi told The Express Tribune that one of the robbers, a man who appeared to be in his mid-30s, used to visit his father [Abdul Sattar Edhi] a couple of times each month for the past six months. "He used to visit the Edhi Centre, meet Edhi Sahib and leave," he said. "Some of the staff members present at the time of the robbery identified him in the gang of robbers… he was not wearing a mask," he said. "All but one of the men were between 30 and 40 years old… one was quite elderly."

Though there were reports that the police had raided the man's house in Mauripur and arrested him, CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy denied it.

Police said there was only one man among the gang of robbers who had worn a mask. "He could be the mastermind behind the robbery," a senior police officer said. "Those present at the scene of the crime said the masked man was getting instructions over the phone."

A senior police investigator told The Express Tribune that the CPLC was helping them. "We have completed the geo-fencing of the area," the officer said. The police will use the technology to track down the man issuing instructions to the man in the mask [thought to be the mastermind of the robbery], he said. "We have also obtained the data of around 3,000 cellphones."

He said the police had already dusted the fingerprints of all the robbers and were now drawing up sketches of the culprits, with the help of witnesses.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2014.