KARACHI: An armed robber on Tuesday took away over half a million rupees from a private bank in Clifton after shooting at its guard, while two other guards did not put up any resistance, police said.

The Faysal Bank branch, situated in a small shop near Schon Circle, was struck a little before noon by the robber who took away the money in a rickshaw.

An official at the Boat Basin police station said the robber entered the branch at 11.30am after shooting at the guard, Abdul Aziz, and asked the cashier to give him the money at the counter. While two other guards posted there did not challenge him, the robber collected Rs628,000 and fled in a rickshaw by holding its driver hostage at gunpoint.

“The bank was set up in a small shop, which did not follow any SOP issued by the State Bank of Pakistan,” said SSP Farooq Awan of the Special Investigation Unit of police. It was impossible to set up a bunker in the 8x8-foot room, he said.

“The CCTV recording system was ineffective as it was without a hard disk,” the officer added.

Referring to a meeting between police, bank security heads and security firm representatives last week, the SIU SSP said they had told the bank officials to at least install such doors which jewellers had at their shops to avoid robberies.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play