A file photo from the Peshawar police. PHOTO: NNI
PESHAWAR:
In a major security breach, unidentified armed robbers looted Rs 1.35 crore in cash and 441 tola of gold from a bank branch on Kohat Road during Eid.
According to police, the incident occurred when four or more suspects broke through the rear wall of the bank premises and entered.
They were carrying a gas cylinder with them, suggesting a planned operation possibly involving cutting tools or other equipment to gain access to secure areas.
Once inside, the thieves disabled all CCTV cameras, eliminating visual evidence of their actions. Surprisingly, no security guards were present at the branch during the heist, raising serious questions about standard protection protocols.
Three emergency alarms installed at the bank were triggered five times, but neither the alarm monitoring company nor the operators alerted authorities or police in time. Investigators included affected alarm personnel in their investigation to determine the cause of the outage.
A first information report (FIR) has been registered at the Bana Mari police station, and a multi-angle investigation is underway. Police officials said operations were intensified to quickly track down and arrest the suspects.
