GUJRAT: Mandi Bahauddin police on Saturday claimed to have arrested a gang of criminals wanted in a case of Rs10 million bank van robbery and killing a guard who offered resistance to them, some nine months back.

Mandi Bahauddin District Police Officer (DPO) Sajid Hussain Khokhar told a news conference in his office that some nine months ago some unidentified robbers had snatched Rs10m from the security guard of a cash van in the city’s grain market area.

The armed robbers had also gunned down a bank guard, Ghulam Rasool, and shot at and injured another guard, Arif, for offering resistance during the robbery.

DPO says Rs20m recovered from the suspects

He said an investigation team led by SP Anwar Saeed Kingra had been constituted, with organised crime wing DSP Aamir Shaheen Gondal as its member to trace and arrest the robbers. The team, he said, traced and arrested the suspects involved in the incident.

The DPO said the arrested suspects, Saad Langa and Zeeshan Mohajir, had also been operating as hired assassins and were allegedly involved in various robberies and other criminal activities in Gujrat and Gujranwala districts.

He said the police have also recovered Rs2 million and some weapons from the suspects, whereas two of their accomplices had already been killed in an encounter with the police in Phalia a few weeks ago. An official of Mandi Bahauddin police was also martyred in the encounter, he added.

The DPO also awarded cash prizes and commendation certificates to the members of the police team that traced and arrested the suspects.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2021