Suited-booted gunman killed in botched armed robbery, partner flees

• Well-dressed robbers struck in daylight on busy street.
• Citizen was carrying around over Rs500,000 in cash.
• Shootout fatally wounded robber, injured security guard.

KARACHI: A suited-booted road agent was shot dead in the middle of an armed robbery Friday outside a bank located on the city’s main artery Shahrah-e-Faisal Road, while his partner fled the scene with half of the loot.

According to Tipu Sultan Police Station's Station House Officer (SHO) Uzma Khan, two armed robbers wearing business suits and neckties held up a citizen at gunpoint as soon as he exited a bank after drawing more than Rs500,000.

“As the citizen tried to resist the holdup, the bandits started shooting their handguns, injuring a security guard, Saleem Akhtar, who returned fire immediately," the police said.

A fierce gunfight ensued between the looters and the injured security guard that lasted for a while.

"One of the muggers was fatally wounded in the shootout, whereas the other escaped,” the SHO said, adding that police were hot on the trail of the fleer.

Apparently, both the heisters had split the looted money, as half of the amount was found lying on the ground near the dead robber. According to eyewitnesses, the bystanders collected that stash of cash and handed it over to the victim.

Moreover, the shootout, as per the onlookers, was so intense that it left many vehicles parked around the crime scene riddled with bullet holes.

The hail of gunshots exchanged between the security guard and the robbers turned the windscreens and window panes of most of them into sheets of shattered glass across the street.

“The rest of the snatched money was still unaccounted for and was suspected to have been taken away by the partner of the deceased road agent,” SHO Khan said.

Police also claimed to have found three handguns of modern make on the robber, who succumbed to gunshot wounds. 

The killed robber has been identified as one Kamil Ahmed, a resident of Hasrat Mohani Colony. His body was later shifted to Jinnah Hospital’s mortuary.

According to police, the total looted amount was Rs540,000, while the robbery victim recovered Rs240,000 from the crime scene, which means the escaper got away with Rs300,000.