A private security company guard deputed at a bank in the Pakistani commercial hub of Karachi carried out the biggest bank robbery in the country's history, escaping with foreign currency worth 310 million rupees (about 3.7 million U.S. dollars).
The guard is believed to have been helped by five accomplices, the official news agency APP reported Monday.
Police said the security guard, Shahid, was the mastermind behind the bank robbery. After arriving at the bank early Sunday morning, Shahid called his five accomplices, tied up the other two guards - Imran and Zamir - and made off with the money.
According to police, the other bank guards were also involved in the robbery. Police had arrested Imran and Zamir and were raiding various
locations across the city to arrest the robbers.
"They took at least two hours to complete the heist and used gas cutters and other equipment to break open safety vaults," said police officer Israr Awan. Of the nine vaults in the bank, the robbers broke into the one that "contained euros, dollars and pounds", the police officer said. They also tried to break open another vault, but later fled the bank with the foreign currency.
"The guard was given uniform without adequate training and posted with a weapon at such a sensitive location," said the capital city police officer.
The officer criticized the bank management and said that none of its senior executives had bothered to contact police, leaving the matter to
their staff.