The thrill of it: Hussain Khar among 3 accused of robbery

For allegedly holding a man at gunpoint and snatching his phone and money.

LAHORE:

Crime Investigation Agency took Hussain Mustafa Khar and three of his accomplices into custody on Tuesday night for allegedly holding a man at gunpoint and snatching his phone, Rs20,000 and withdrawing Rs5,000 from his ATM account. Police said they had recovered the phone, an unlicensed 0.30 bore pistol and bullets from them as well. 

Operations DIG Haider Ashraf told journalists that several media channels had reported that Hussain Khar, who is the son of former governor Ghulam Mustafa Khar, had been kidnapped on Tuesday night.

“I want to clarify that he is in the custody of the CIA Lahore on charges of armed robbery,” he said. An FIR under Section 392 of the PPC (robbery) was registered against the suspects with the Defence A police station on November 1, he said.

Ashraf said the police arrested them from Model Town where he was visiting a friend. Shahid Malik, a resident of DD-Block, DHA, told police that he was driving in the DHA at around 3:35am on October 30. He said a car bumped into his and he got out of his car to look at it. There were four men in the car behind him, Hussain Khar and one of his friends exited the car and Khar placed a pistol to his ribs, Malik alleged. The other man punched him and snatched his phone and Rs20,000 that was in his pocket, he said. “They took me to the MCB Bank’s Defence Branch and withdrew Rs5,000 from my account.” He said the men could be seen in the footage of the CCTV camera in the ATM. Malik said that they dropped him off near a traffic signal and sped off while firing shots in the air.

Ashraf said the suspects were from well-to-do families and had committed several crimes for “the thrill of it”.

CIA SP Umar Virk said interrogations revealed that Khar had called up his friend Anas Awais on October 30. The two went to Khar’s house where they were joined by Ibrahim Cheema and Fahad Zeeshan.  They called a bootlegger to Garden Town. The men consumed the liquor and later robbed Malik on Ghazi Road  at around 3:35 am.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2014.