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KARACHI, June 20: A police constable and a bandit were killed in an encounter as police foiled the robbery attempt at a private bank in Delhi Colony on Friday morning.
Police said six persons entered the Delhi Colony branch of Bank Al Habib at around 9.16am and made the staff and customers hostage at gunpoint. They deprived the two guards of a private security agency deputed at the bank of their guns, collected over Rs5.1 million and the central processing unit of the closed-circuit camera TV network.
Someone from among the staff, meanwhile, activated the alarm system, alerting the private security agency that, in turn, informed the police. As the suspects were about to flee, three policemen, ASI Khalid and police constables Khadim and Abrar, reached the bank.
During the shootout that took place inside the bank, five suspects fled abandoning the booty, while their accomplice was gunned down. A police constable was wounded in the exchange of fire.
Police recovered the entire cash along with the CPU of the closed-circuit TV camera, three pistols and two repeater guns. A vehicle with a fake registration plate used by the bandits to commit the robbery was also recovered.
The injured policeman was rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, but he could not survive.
Sources in the police said that the TV footage showed that the bandits entered the bank at 9.16am while the camera had stopped recording at 9.14am, indicating an insider’s link with the armed hold-up.
Other sources said it seemed that the bandits took away the recording equipment just to be on the safe side as their partner inside the bank had already switched off the monitoring equipment.
The slain police constable has been given posthumous promotion by making him head constable. A Quaid-i-Azam police medal would be recommended for the slain Abrar Husain, Clifton SP Azad Khan said.
Thirty-six-year-old Abrar Husain was married with no children. His official funeral was performed at the Garden Police Headquarters on Friday evening. The body will be taken to Rawalpindi for burial.
Arrested
Police arrested three suspects for their alleged involvement in street crime in two separate incidents.
Ferozabad police said Habib Ahmed was intercepted by two suspects on a motorcycle who deprived him of his cellular phone, watch, cash and some other valuables. The victim informed a police mobile patrolling the area about the incident. The police took him along and chased the suspects.
The suspects, identified later as Muhammad Faisal and Ali Raza, were subsequently arrested. Police recovered the booty and a pistol from their possession.
Meanwhile, Ferozabad police busted a gang and arrested one of its members, Mumtaz Bhayo, following an encounter in the area. Police recovered three pistols, two kilograms of charas and a latest model Suzuki Culus from his possession. However, his three accomplices fled.
Police said the gang members were involved in the bank, house robberies and street crime in the city.
