PESHAWAR: Branch manager of a local bank was killed and its cashier sustained injuries during an armed robbery in Chamkani area on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday, the police said.

However, the amount of cash looted was not made public till filing of this report with police officials insisting they were counting the cash.

An official at the Chamkani police station identified the slain manager as Asghar Awan, and the injured cashier as Hashtam Khan.

He said the robbers who were four in number also took away the weapons snatched from the bank’s guards.

City police chief Abbas Ahsan told reporters that there were four armed robbers who had their faces covered. He said before entering the bank the robbers overpowered and disarmed its two guards. Afterwards, they managed to loot the cash, he said, adding the sensors installed inside the building set off the alarms ringing, which either confused or angered the robbers causing them to open fire, which resulted into the death of the branch’s manager.

Mr Ahsan said the police would interview the bank’s employees and check the CCTV footage. He said the police forensic teams including cellular forensics would also be deployed to investigate the incident.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2021