HYDERABAD, Aug 18: Hyderabad police have reportedly recovered around Rs3 million and arrested two persons believed to have been involved in over Rs15.2 million bank robbery.

Sources told Dawn on Monday that police had picked up Abbas Siyal and Barkat Lashari on charge of being involved in robbing an armoured van of a private security company when it was transferring cash to the main branch of MCB in Gari Khata on Aug 5.

“They are the main accused in the case and they have disclosed names of their accomplices, who belong to Gambat, Daulatpur, Kazi Ahmed, Larkana and Malir, Karachi. Police teams are in their hot pursuit,” said a police official who is part of one of the teams.

The sources said that Abbas Siyal, who owned a fish farm, was arrested in Tando Mohammad Khan when he was going in the car, which was used in the robbery to his farm in Sujawal and around Rs150,000 looted currency notes were found in his possession.

Police teams are still chasing their targets because seven more gangsters are to be arrested.

Hyderabad DPO Ghulam Nabi Memon was scheduled to hold a press conference on the developments but he adjourned it till Tuesday morning as the police were expecting another breakthrough in the case.

Siyal initially refused to admit that he was involved in the robbery but the bank stamp with letter ‘M’ on currency notes belied his claim. “Then we tightened the screw and he disclosed everything. He disclosed that he had handed over a bag containing cash to a man in Dadu, the source said.

“A police team went to Dadu and recovered the bag which contained around Rs2.5 million,” claimed the source.

Some relatives of Siyal have also been picked up by Hyderabad police. There were some suspects who were picked up from Tandojam and Matiari as well. “We didn’t arrest the man who had kept the bag with him. He simply didn’t know what was in the bag given to him by his friend,” said the source.

The source claimed that it was Barkat Lashari who had disclosed Abbas’ name. “In fact Lashari was arrested by Badin police in another case of robbery but they failed to break his silence over MCB offence.

“Then DIG Sanaullah Abbasi asked Badin police to shift him to Hyderabad. He was then interrogated in typical style and it led to disclosure of Abbas’ name,” said the source.

Earlier, police had picked up a suspect, Muzaffar Rind, who is an employee of Sindh irrigation department, from Allah Dad Chand village at midnight on Saturday and let him off the same night after protest by his family and co-villagers.

He was picked up following information that the gangsters, who committed the robbery had gathered at his place. “We needed to verify reports that are available with us for his direct or indirect involvement in the offence,” said the source.

Rafiq, an employee of a private security company that provides armoured vehicles to the bank, is in custody with four employees of the company who were travelling in the van. Three of them were let off and only Rafiq was detained.