Karkhano bank robbery

Traders in the busy Shah Shopping Centre were pulling up the shutters on their shops on Friday morning when in a dare-devil attempt at about 9-30am five outlaws stormed their way into the local branch of a private bank by smashing the ATM device and after making the staff hostage at gunpoint reportedly decamped with cash worth Rs800,000 and 50,000 in foreign currency. On receiving the news, high police officials rushed to the place and sealed the branch. After preliminary investigations, police raided village Sarband on Bara Road and claimed to have arrested four suspects. However, there was no word on the recovery of the looted money. Although traders mostly from Landikotal, Jamrud and Bara have invested millions of rupees into business yet the sprawling Karkhano Markets have rightly or wrongly acquired over the years a reputation for lawlessness, foul play and double dealing. Out of business compulsions, some of the banks have opened their branches but the staff on duty continues to feel insecure. Each and every market has armed guards but still there have been cases in which cars have been stolen or snatched and bank branches robbed. Well-connected bank employees manage to get their transfer orders cancelled but ordinary staff members have to obey the orders. Some time back an officer of a private bank posted in Karkhano Market was kidnapped but when his family approached the management, it declined to offer any help, sympathy or even issue to the press a condemnation of the incident.

Initial reports about Friday's bank robbery indicate that police are fully seized with the problem and detectives are probably getting the right kind of clues. Further probe conducted on scientific lines may yield positive results and each and every penny of the robbed money will hopefully be recovered.