KARACHI - The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) on Thursday claimed to have busted a gang of bandits allegedly involved in over half-a-dozen cases of bank robberies in the city.
The officials and personnel of the SIU and ACLC, in a joint operation, arrested five persons suspected to be involved in bank robberies.
The four-member gang was arrested in a single raid while another bank robber was arrested separately.
The arrests were disclosed at a press conference addressed by Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) chief DIG Dr Jameel Ahmed.
“The arrested persons were involved in nearly seven bank robberies,” claimed the DIG, and added, “The fifth one was involved in at least three bank robberies.”
Shahid Qureshi, Siddique Rathore, Tahir Shafi and Wajid alias Mama were the members of the gang.
Quoting the initial investigation, CIA DIG said that Shahid Qureshi, who is a generator mechanic by profession, was mastermind of the gang, adding that his brother had also been killed while robbing a bank in the city. The fifth accused, Fida, had also been nominated in at least three bank robberies.
The officer said that all eight bank robberies that took place in 2016 had been probed while the persons involved in three bank robberies in 2017 had also been arrested.
The officer also claimed to have recovered booty worth over Rs1 million and arms and ammunitions from those arrested.
Cases against them have been registered while further investigation is underway.
Bachat Bazaar on Service
Road removed
Meanwhile, in an ongoing crackdown against over 55 weekly bazaars illegally set up in the city, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's (KMC) Enterprise and Investment Promotion (E&IP) Department in collaboration with DMS South Anti- Encroachment on Thursday removed a Bachat Bazaar' that had been set up on Service Road.
On the complaint of resident of Burns Road, KMC team, led by E&IP Chairman Qaisar Imtiaz along with DMC South Anti- Encroachment Deputy Director Syed Kazim Shah removed the Bazaar within the limits of Aram Bagh Police Station. Earlier, KMC's E&IP Department had issued notices to the owners of stalls at these bazaars, directing them to pack up and leave.
It is worth mentioning here that a court had also ordered the concerned authorities to remove all Bachat Bazaars set up on roads, playgrounds, parks and streets in the city.
The E&IP department has further stated that in line with the directives of Mayor of Karachi, the department has initiated a campaign against the Bachat Bazaars set up illegally in different areas of Karachi.
Currently, illegal Bachat Bazaars were being run in Gulshan Iqbal, Gulberg, Liaqatabad, Shah Faisal, Jamshed town areas, North Karachi, Surjani Town, Korangi, Federal B area and many other localities of the city.
