KARACHI: Police on Sunday made little headway in investigating an armed robbery at the house of a senior police officer and his politician wife in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

The incident took place late on Friday night at the residence of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tauheed Rehman and his wife, Aqraba Fatima, who is one of the spokespersons for the Sindh government and a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Sources said that during the initial probe it transpired that the robbers had arrived in an SUV. They added that in recent weeks, two to three groups of robbers have emerged in the city’s posh areas, travelling in luxury vehicles to commit crimes.

Five armed men held the senior police officer and his spouse hostage at their home in DHA and made off with a large amount of cash and gold ornaments, it emerged on Sunday.

As per the contents of the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant, Faisal Altaf, a policeman posted as gunman at a bungalow (No. 2/9) on Street-32, Khayaban-i-Mujahid, Phase-V, stated that he was asleep in the guardroom at around 4:45am on August 23, when three armed men woke him up. They took him inside the house where he saw that SSP Rehman’s family had already been held hostage, while two other armed men stood guard.

SSP and his wife ‘held hostage’, deprived of Rs1m cash, US dollars worth Rs9m, jewellery worth Rs10m and mobile phone

The complainant stated the robbers demanded keys from him, to which he replied that the keys were kept beside the cooler. Subsequently, two armed men held “all of us hostage” while three others searched the house. The suspects left around 5:15am after a thorough search of the residence, warning that anyone who tried to follow them would be shot. They locked the door as they left.

Later, SSP Rehman informed them that the robbers had taken away US dollars worth Rs9 million, Pakistani currency amounting to Rs1m, gold ornaments valued at over Rs10m, and a mobile phone.

The FIR quotes the complainant as stating: “Now, under the direction of my master (the officer), I seek legal proceedings against the five unidentified armed suspects for entering the house, holding us hostage and looting the cash and valuables.”

Police have registered a case under Section 395 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2025