RAWALPINDI: While the unathorised sale and purchase of police uniforms is criminalised under law, a gang of robbers dressed in police uniforms kidnapped a money changer and robbed him of millions at Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Wednesday.

The robbers had remained parked in the drop-lane at the airport in a jeep for over an hour. Muhammad Saleem, an employee of a currency exchange company in Karachi, arrived at the airport on an Air Blue flight at around 9:30am. He was carrying over Rs70 million with him.

Another money changer told Dawn that four clients of the currency exchange company, who were also money changers, were waiting for Mr Saleem outside the arrival lounge. They were to change the money Mr Saleem was carrying to foreign currency, which he would then take to Karachi.

However, as soon as Mr Saleem exited the lounge, the robbers pounced on him. Two of the robbers were dressed in police uniforms while another was posing to be an intelligence agency official. “They beat him up and dragged him to their jeep, saying they were going to interrogate him,” the money changer said.

His clients helplessly watched as he was dragged away. Afraid of being targeted, the awaiting clients did not intervene but contacted their offices in Rawalpindi and Islamabad to inform their bosses about what had happened.

The robbers sped off in their jeep with the kidnapped man and drove towards the Islamabad Expressway. They robbed him of the money and pushed him out of the vehicle near Khanna Bridge, Taramari Chowk.

This was the largest heist at the airport where there is heavy deployment of security officials and over 100 CCTV cameras are installed. The airport had been on high alert because of VVIP movements during the last 24 hours.

When Regional Police Officer Rawalpindi Muhammad Wasyal Fakhar Sultan Raja was contacted, he said that following the incident, all senior police officials visited the airport and an investigation has been launched.

“After collection of vital evidence, the vehicle used by the bogus policemen has been located and soon the culprits will be captured and the loot recovered,” RPO Fakhar Sultan said.

He said a police team led by the CPO Rawalpindi and assisted by police experts spent several hours at the airport and interrogated the security officials and other people present at that time.

It has been weeks since the Punjab government directed the divisional police chiefs across the province to launch a crackdown against the unauthorised sale of army and police uniforms.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2015

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