KARACHI, Jan 13: Sindh Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui said on Friday that the police were almost close to those allegedly responsible for the second bank robbery and would soon arrest the culprits.

Talking to newsmen, he said the police have expanded the scope of their probe after securing solid evidence in the second robbery case and they hope to recover the looted money.

He said that the police had already solved the first bank robbery case this year and recovered the looted money.

To a question, he said that the police had solved the cases of all four bank robberies last year (2005) and recovered the booty.

Replying to a question, Rauf Siddiqui said two types of persons commit crime: first habitual criminals and second influential individuals.

However, he said nobody is above the law and the Sindh government was working hard to take them to the task and maintain law and order in the province.

He expressed confidence that the year 2006 will be a year of peace.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the home minister commended the people and the law-enforcement agencies for maintenance of law and order in the province on the occasion of Eidul Azha.

In a statement here on Friday, he praised the efforts of director- general of Rangers, Sindh, Maj-Gen. Javed Zia, IGP Sindh, Jehangir Mirza, CCPO Karachi, Niaz Ahmed Siddiqui, DIG Operations Mushtaq Shah and other officials and officers and jawans of the LEAs.

Rauf Siddiqui also lauded the performance of the officers and jawans of the traffic police for making effective arrangements in the metropolis. —APP