RAWALPINDI, June 29: Interrogation of the mastermind of last week’s Rs16 million bank heist and one of his accomplices has revealed that the crime was linked to a sectarian group, Dawn has learnt.

Besides, the police have also arrested three local facilitators of the accused.

A source close to the investigation said the police were trying to ascertain whether the largest amount of cash looted from Dubai Islamic Bank was to be donated to the sectarian organisation or it was to be used for any other purpose. However, the looted amount is yet to be recovered by the police.

The source said the investigation carried out so far pointed towards the possibility that the mastermind Abul Hassan and his group members, who belonged to Parachinar, were suspected of having links with a sectarian outfit.

He added that one of the gang members who escaped with the loot had managed to reach Parachinar before the police reached his hideout in Mardan. The accused had been looking for a house on rent to settle down in the city, the source said.

Abul Hassan, who was deployed as a security guard at the Dubai Islami Bank branch, and his accomplice Ramzan Ali were arrested by the motorway police on Rushakai Interchange near Swabi while they were going towards Mardan in their car which they had used in the bank robbery. Later, the accused were handed over to the police for interrogation.

The interrogation of the two helped the police arrest their three local ’facilitators’ who had provided the gang members lodging facilities in the city. However, the investigators have been unable to get any further help from the mastermind and recover the looted cash.