KARACHI, Oct 20: In a heist eerily similar to the one experienced by the same bank some time back, a pair of robbers broke open lockers of a Habib Bank branch on Sunday night and made off with cash and valuables worth millions of rupees, it emerged on Monday.

The two bandits wearing uniforms of HBL security guards bearing proper monograms came to the bank’s Faisal Cantonment branch situated on Sharea Faisal at around 8pm and knocked at the door. The suspects introduced themselves to the guard on duty as the bank’s employees, saying that they had been sent by the chief security officer for routine checks.

Taken in by the robbers’ bluff, the lone, unarmed security guard of the bank, Niaz Mohammad, opened the door, DSP Raza Shah of the Sharea Faisal police station told Dawn.

As soon as the guard on duty opened the door, the suspects stormed in and tied him up with the ropes they carried and stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth.

Armed with the necessary tools -– including a drill machine, a sledge and a hammer –- required for breaking open the lockers, the suspects started their operation.

The effectiveness of the security mechanism was tested for the second time when genuine staffers of the bank’s security force came to the branch for their routine checks.

Apparently not noticing that the door was ajar, the bank’s employees casually walked into the branch. Within no time they were also overpowered by the suspects and were trussed up. Both members of the vigilance team were also unarmed, the DSP said.

“They didn’t have the nous to figure out why the door was slightly open,” DSP Shah said.

The DSP pointed out that the closed circuit television cameras at the bank were found switched off, though they were supposed to work round the clock.

However, a spokesman for the HBL told Dawn that when the security superviser came for the routine check, he got concerned when the bank’s door did not open after his repeated knocks.

Subsequently, one of the suspects, who was wearing the bank’s uniform, came and opened the door and also overpowered the superviser, the spokesman added.

However, the police said that they were two employees of the bank’s vigilance team.

During their more than four-hour stay at the bank, the two suspects broke open 66 lockers out of a total of 76, collecting cash and jewellery with the help of their tools, which might have created noise. However considering the bank’s isolated location, with the railway tracks running behind the building, no one noticed the happenings in the bank, police said.

The suspects left the bank at around 12.30am, leaving behind the three security men all tied up. However, the bank’s security staff managed to set themselves free and rushed to the head office to report the incident to the security department of the bank, DSP Raza Shah said.

An accurate estimate of the losses suffered by the bank’s customers could not be ascertained immediately, police quoted the bank staff as having said.

Subsequently, an FIR (811/2008) under Sections 392, 457 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered on the complaint of bank manager Amjad against two unknown suspects at the Sharea Faisal police station.

Police recorded the statements of the three employees of the bank to initiate the investigation.

August 15 heist

An investigation into a more or less similar dacoity carried out at the same bank’s Mansfield Street branch in Saddar on Aug 15 is still pending as no headway has been made in the case.

The suspects who struck at the HBL’s Mansfield branch were carrying less noisy gas-welding equipment to cut into the lockers. The security guard posted at the bank had fled away following the holdup, leaving behind a letter addressed to the bank administration saying that he was innocent but fleeing for fear of police torture. The guard belonged to the Excellent Security Company. A spokesman for the HBL said that 10 of the lockers which had been broken open were not yet rented out. He pointed out that 42 lockers were broken open by the suspects.

The suspects took away gold and foreign currency from the lockers, the spokesman said, adding that according to the State Bank’s guidelines keeping cash in the lockers was prohibited.

He said that by Monday evening around 50 per cent of the customers had turned up at the bank branch for the completion of legal formalities for their claims. Earlier, the bank had called its customers to inform them about the incident and to ask them to visit the bank, he added.

Answering a query about the CCTV recording, the spokesman said that since the branch was under renovation, the CCTV equipment was tape-based and not CD-based.