LAHORE – Three unidentified armed men robbed Rs 0.25 million from the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Kot Abdullah Branch in the Mozang Police Station precincts on Monday. According to details, three men stormed into the bank at 2:15pm and took the staff and customers hostage at gunpoint and seized money placed at the payment shelf.
Security guard, Waheed Khan, 40, was standing inside the bank and put up some resistance, upon which the robbers thrashed and pistolwhipped him on his head due to which Waheed fell unconscious.
Two robbers gathered all the people in the bank while the third one went to the cash counter and ordered the cashier to hand over all the money, on which the employee handed over Rs 0.25 million and saved the rest of the money. Afterwards, the robbers locked the main door of the bank with a wire lock and fled. The bank manager called the police, which released the staff taken hostage.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Sub-Inspector Iftikhar said that the robbers came in a silver Suzuki Cultus and robbed the bank in around two to three minutes. He said that the robbery occurred due to negligence of the bank management, as the CCTV cameras installed across and inside the bank were out of order for many days.
The policeman said a team of experts was searching for the criminals and a FIR has been registered against unidentified men on a complaint by the bank manager. The bank’s assistant manager told Pakistan Today that some renovation work was being done at the bank for the last few days due to which CCTV cameras were out of order.
He said that the robbers apparently were of a rural background and the contractor of the renovation work might be involved in the robbery. The incident occurred near the Jain Mandir Road during rush hour and puts a big question mark on law enforcement agencies.
