Gang of bank robbers busted

PESHAWAR: The police have busted the seven-member gang that robbed several of banks in the provincial capital and adjoining districts in the last five months, officials said on Tuesday.

“The cops have recovered Rs22.8 million looted money from the held robbers. Raids are being conducted to arrest three other members of the ring,” said DIG Mardan Yasin Farooq told a press conference at the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines here.

Capital City Police Officer Abbas Ahsan and DIG Kohat Zafar Ali were also present on the occasion. The official said the robbers used to escape in rented vehicles wearing burqas to dodge the police after staging robberies.

He added the held robbers had connections with outlaws in Afghanistan while two robbers were also involved in terrorist activities.

Bank robberies saw an unprecedented increase in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent months. The latest robbery was carried out in Nowshera last week in which a policeman and a guard engaged and shot injured one of the robbers. One policeman was also wounded. The robbers had looted Rs21 million from the bank. The police got a clue about the group from the incident and busted the gang.

A bank manager identified as Asgha Awan was killed and another official wounded in a bank robbery in Chamkani in March. The robbers had looted Rs8.3 million.

Armed men broke into a bank and attempted a robbery in Badaber a few weeks ago but escaped when the guard challenged them. The robbers could not collect any cash before they managed to escape on bikes.

Two banks were robbed in the adjoining Khyber district.

In January, armed robbers looted Rs6.5 million from a bank in Bara subdivision in Khyber district. In April, another bank was robbed in Bara. The robbers managed to escape after looting Rs4.8 million. In December, around Rs800,000 were looted from a bank in Kohat.