HYDERABAD: A Rangers personnel and a private security guard were killed during a bank heist in the Heerabad area of Hyderabad on Monday.
According to the police, seven or eight armed men broke into the bank, snatched around Rs2 million from the cashier and escaped. “They took the gun from police constable Ikram who was guarding the bank, beat him up and held him hostage while they were looting the bank,” said Market SHO Wahid Bux Laghari.
The Rangers reached the bank when the robbers were exiting, leading the suspects to open fire at them and escape the area. Rangers personnel Ghulam Asghar, from Khairpur Mirs, and guard Faisal Shah, a resident of Hyderabad’s Tando Tayyab area, were killed.
According to the medico-legal officer, Asghar sustained a fatal wound to his chest, while Shah was shot in the face. He later succumbed to his wounds. SHO Laghari said that the robbers did not deactivate the CCTV system, adding that the suspects could be identified with its help.
An eyewitness told The Express Tribune that although the Rangers were present outside the bank, they did not open fire at the suspects or chase them.
Rangers deputy superintendent Zafar Iqbal told The Express Tribune that their van was conducting routine patrolling when it came under fire. “Asghar was driving the mobile van when he was hit,” he said. “We had no information about how many robbers were exiting the bank. The suspect who opened fire escaped while firing at the vehicle.”
He also cited the presence of a number of passers-by near the bank as the reason why the Rangers were prevented from retaliating with fire.
No FIR has been registered for the incident yet. The bank manager has not commented.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2014.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
This is another case of casual reaction from Police and Rangers.In fact it was criminal for Rangers to reach on time yet failing to get the decoits. This shows total lack of training and discipline. The SP and every officer down the chain should be sacked including Ranger officials but must be kept in the same area.