Peshawar police arrest four in cash van heist, recover looted Rs35 million

• Van driver, previously fired from two place, enabled the entire heist.
• Security lapses, SOP violations contributed to the crime, says SSP.
• Officer says police acted swiftly, conducting multiple raids, arrests.

PESHAWAR: Four suspects involved in the major cash van heist in the provincial capital have been arrested, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Masood Ahmed said on Tuesday. 

The robbery was carried out on Monday, targeting a bulletproof van that was transporting funds to multiple districts. A total of Rs35 million had been looted from the van, for which the related bank later filed an first information report (FIR).

CCTV footage obtained by Geo News showed armed robbers on motorcycles looting a private bank’s cash van in Hashtnagri, Peshawar.

According to the police, four armed criminals intercepted the bank vehicle at gunpoint, forcing it to stop before seizing the cash.

The SSP, while addressing a press conference in Peshawar, revealed that the van driver had played a central role in the crime. He had been employed for six months but had not undergone proper background checks. 

Authorities later discovered that he had been dismissed from two or three previous jobs and his direct involvement in the robbery enabled the criminals to execute the heist, the officer said.

SSP Ahmed further said that robbers used a "carry dabba" and a motorcycle to carry out the crime. He said that investigations also pointed to serious lapses in security procedures, as the driver should not have opened the cash van’s door. 

The Operations SSP noted that there were shortcomings in SOP compliance, which contributed to the successful execution of the heist.

Despite these failures, police acted swiftly, conducting multiple raids that led to the arrests, he said, adding that the criminal records of the detained suspects were currently being verified as probe continues.