Details of robbery at Chhipa office in Karachi surface after a month

Welfare organisation did not immidiately report case to police or media; police draw parallels with Edhi robbery case

KARACHI: While the robbery at the Edhi foundation office last month shook everyone to the core, what was not reported was that a similar robbery took place at the headquarters of the Chhipa Welfare Association on October 5.

Though a month has been passed, Chhipa did not approach the police to register the case but the Chhipa association provided the CCTV footage to the police to investigate the case.



At least 10-15 armed men barged into the ground-plus-four-storey building of the Chhipa Welfare Association located near the FTC flyover, Sharah-e-Faisal, within the limits of the brigade police station and escaped with the looted booty. In similar fashion, Edhi’s office was also robbed by 10 armed men in broad daylight.

Ramzan Chhipa, founder of Chhipa Welfare Association, while talking to The Express Tribune, said, “They were armed and were also carrying bags, while some of them were masked and wearing cowboy caps.”

Though the police investigators failed to probe both robberies, they suspect that both cases might be linked to each other.

“Both robberies are definitely similar,” Brigade SHO Ghulam Nabi Afridi told The Express Tribune.

According to reports, cash and valuables were worth millions of rupees were looted. However, the administration did not reveal the exact amount.

Police officials on the other hand said that some Rs300,000  were looted, and that the robbers did not find the lockers where all the money was kept.

In response to a question, SHO Afridi said that the police have already registered a case against unidentified persons after the Chhipa administration refused to register a case.

“They (robbers) seemed professional,” said a senior investigation officer.

The officer said that some suspects ahead of both the robberies were detained, but were released due to lack of evidence of their involvement. He added that suspects of both robberies would be arrested soon.

Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously reported that the incident took place on November 5. The error is regretted.