RAWALPINDI: A serving sub-inspector has been arrested for allegedly masterminding the robbery at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in which robbers dressed as police officers robbed a passenger of millions.

On April 22, two men dressed as police officers and a third posing to be a member of an intelligence agency kidnapped a money changer arriving from Karachi with millions of rupees.

Reead: Passenger kidnapped at airport, robbed of millions

The police identified a serving police sub-inspector from the CCTV footage of the incident in which the SI could be clearly seen. Following his arrest, other members of the gang were traced. According to police sources, the other two kidnappers are ex-officers of an intelligence agency and police are unsure if they can be arrested.

An investigation officer told Dawn that five people, including SI Saeed Ahmed have been arrested. “Over Rs 30million have been recovered,” he said.

According to police sources, the mastermind of this heist was deputed to the police squad of the Rawalpindi commissioner. Earlier, he had been dismissed from police service because of misconduct and was reinstated two months ago.

Also read: Kidnapping at airport

Soon after the robbery at the BBIA, the Regional Police Officer (RPO) Mohammad Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja wrote a letter to the Airport Security Force (ASF) expressing concern over the negligence of the ASF officials who did not pay attention while a robbery took place in broad daylight.

When contacted, RPO Fakhar Sultan Raja told Dawn that the police have been investigating the case and arrested some people including a police official.

He also confirmed that Rs 30million has been recovered from the 70.4million robbed from the money changer. “The rest will also be reocovered soon,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2015

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