PESHAWAR: The police arrested three men for alleged involvement in a recent botched robbery, which left a police official martyred and two others injured in the provincial capital.

According to Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad, the suspects were arrested by a special team that acted on information about the presence of the group in Northern Bypass within the jurisdiction of the Michni Gate police on Sunday night.

He told reporters at Peshawar’s police headquarters that suspects Mohammad Shoaib, Mohammad Umar and Mohammad Ammad had been planning a robbery but were arrested by the special team.

Mr Ahmad said that the three were part of a gang involved in two failed bank robberies. He, however, said that there was no evidence that the three had been making robbery attempts in order to finance militant activities.

Three murder suspects remanded in police custody

He said three police personnel were injured when robbers opened fire at them during a robbery attempt at a private bank in Pirbala area on the outskirts of the provincial capital on March 6. Additional SHO Bahar Ali, who bravely challenged the robbers, sustained injuries and was shifted to the hospital but later succumbed to injuries.

The CCPO said that a similar attempt, to rob another bank on Inqilab Road was made on January 20, which was made by the same group.

He said with the help of Safe City camera footage and route mapping, the group was identified and that the teams concluded that it was the same gang which had made both robbery attempts.

The official said the gang had carried out surveillance of any bank as well but failed to execute their plan due to high security around the bank. He said the teams were almost completed another investigation into the National Bank looting a day before Eidul Fitr on Kohat Road.

He informed that during initial investigation, it was found that the group was also involved in another robbery in 2021 in Bara tehsil of Khyber district, adding that the accused persons had been arrested multiple times but had managed to get their bail applications approved from the courts.

“We have identified two other members of the group but cannot share their details now,” he said. The official said the group comprised seven persons with some involved in planning the robberies while some in executing the plan.

Later, a statement issued by city police read that the special teams initiated a comprehensive investigation using modern scientific and technical methods with the assistance of the Safe City Project.

During investigation, numerous raids were conducted in the areas of Tirah and Bara in Khyber and Charsadda districts, and various locations in Peshawar. Several suspects were also interrogated, it read.

Meanwhile, the three suspects, arrested on the charge of killing a police officer on resistance during a bank robbery, were remanded by the court in police custody for six days.

During the hearing, police told the court that the three suspects were required by police for an ongoing investigation into the bank robberies and killing of a police officer.

The court accepted police’s request and remanded all three suspects to police custody for six days.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2026