IGP says arrested bank robber linked with Afghan militants

NOWSHERA: KP Inspector General of Police Sanaullah Abbasi said on Friday the robbers who had tried to rob a commercial bank a day before in the Pabbi town of the Nowshera district had links to militants based in Afghanistan.

He was talking to the media after inquiring into the health of the police Head Constable Shakil Khan of the Riders Squad who was injured while foiling the Rs 21million robbery. Deputy Inspector General of Police Mardan Yaseen Farooq, Nowshera District Police Officer Muhammad Iqbal accompanied the police chief.

A gang of three robbers had stormed a commercial bank in Pabbi on Thursday. The timely action by the cops and the security guards had foiled the robbery bid but Head Constable Shakil Khan was injured during the action.

The police chief said the Pabbi police had arrested the main accused in the heist with the cooperation of the bank security guard and local people. He said the alleged arrested robber had been identified as Usman Ghani, son of Qadeem Khan, who was a resident of Darra Adamkhel town.

Sanaullah Abbasi said a gang of criminals had been robbing the banks for quite some time and committed two robberies in Bara and one each in Kohat and Chamkani town of Peshawar.

The IGP said during initial grilling the accused in the Pabbi robbery case had confessed to the crimes and said that he had been visiting Afghanistan and was working for Afghanistan-based militants.

Sanaullah Abbasi said the accused had confessed to killing a bank manager during a robbery in Chamkani town of Peshawar as well. He said the suspect had divulged the names of his three accomplices, adding three pistols and two motorbikes used in the crime had been recovered from the accused. The police chief said efforts had been launched to arrest other accomplices of the accused.