LAHORE, Oct 29: Dacoits looted house of a DSP and a bank and made off with Pakistani and foreign currency, gold ornaments and a car, worth over Rs5 million, on Monday.

Police sources said that the house — 89-Block F of Model Town — belonged to DSP Chaudhry Sadaqat, presently posted at a training school in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura. However, the DSP claimed that the house was owned by his brother-in-law Anwar Ahmad Chaudhry.

Four men armed with mausers and knives sneaked into the house at 3am.

Mr Sadaqat told Dawn2 by telephone that the intruders first went to servants quarters in the house. “They held up five servants and tied them up with ropes.” The gangsters acquired all information about the inmates of the house and the places for keeping gold ornaments and other valuables.

Later, the armed men tried to enter different rooms but did not succeed because of internal locks and other security checks. He said that the armed men again returned to the quarters. His sister wake up at 7am and went to the quarters in search of the cook, he said.

The DSP said that the intruders held up his sister and entered the house and detained all the family members in a room. He claimed that the miscreants collected 260 tolas gold ornaments, Rs1 million and US $8,000. He said that the dacoits also drove away with a new car (LRA-442).

Mr Sadaqat said that two sons of his sister were settled in the US and had recently sent the money for the marriage of their sister. The gold ornaments were also bought for the marriage, he claimed.

Investigating officer Inspector Aftab said that he had not yet calculated the exact loss. Model Town police division SP Syed Aftab Ejaz declined to comment on the broad daylight dacoity.

Three robbers looted Habib Bank’s Beriwala Chowk, Bilal Ganj branch.

The gunmen stormed into the bank branch minutes after its security guard went out in search of water.

Bank manager Ikramul Haq told police that the intruders held up all staff and customers in the branch and detained them in the strong room. The gangsters collected Rs970,000 from cash counter and escaped by foot after locking the bank from outside. School teacher Kausar was deprived of her gold ornaments worth thousands of rupees by two armed men soon after she left her house in Wahdat Colony.

Four miscreants held up Maqbool Ahmad and his wife on their way home at Habib Ganj in Misri Shah and deprived them of cash and gold ornaments, worth Rs25,000.

Two gunmen stormed into the house of Mohammad Anwar at Bilal Colony in Sanda and made off with cash, gold ornaments and valuables, worth Rs130,000.

Four armed men burst into the house of Farhan Ahmad in Kot Lakhpat. They held up the inmates, collected cash and gold ornaments, worth Rs50,000, and escaped on foot.

Neighbours chased them when the family raised an alarm. A police patrol joined the chase and arrested three of the intruders, later identified as Nadeem, Majid and Sylvester. They identified their fourth accomplice as Riaz who managed to escape.

The police claimed that they had recovered the loot.