Two arrested in connection with year’s biggest robbery

Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested two men, including a key suspect, in connection with the April 5 robbery in which prize bonds worth Rs30 million were looted from a builder’s dispatch rider on Jamshed Road in Karachi.

The men were arrested by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Karachi police’s Criminal Investigation Agency with the help of CCTV camera footage. Police said the suspects had been trying to leave the city, adding that prize bonds worth Rs25 million were also recovered from their possession.

The arrested men have been identified as Naveed Ahmed and Farhan Ahmed Hashmi. SIU chief SSP Haider Raza said Ahmed was the ringleader of the gang that comprised Arman, alias Nomi, Aqeel, Ayan, Naushad, Ovais, Fazal, Ali and Rehan — all of whom were involved in the robbery.

SSP Raza said Ahmed had distributed prize bonds worth Rs5 million among these men, adding that raids for arresting them and recovering the remaining prize bonds were under way.

Citing the arrested suspects’ police statements, the SSP said Ahmed and an accomplice named Mazhar had been arrested in the past for snatching prize bonds worth Rs1.4 million from a doctor.

The officer said Ahmed had been released from jail on bail after spending 13 months in prison, while Mazhar was still incarcerated. The SSP said the gang was also involved in the recent robbery of Gutka worth Rs2 million in New Karachi.

The SIU’s investigation had found that the company’s employees were involved in the robbery, following which the police arrested two of them during a raid at a bus terminal in the Saddar area as they were attempting to flee from the city.