Peshawar — In one of the most daring and sensational bank burglaries in recent years, unidentified thieves carried out a highly sophisticated and meticulously planned Eid night heist, tunneling into a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan in the Bhana Mari area on Kohat Road and escaping with millions of rupees in cash and gold ornaments worth crores, while also removing the entire CCTV surveillance room to eliminate crucial evidence.
According to initial reports, the suspects executed the operation with remarkable precision, professional expertise, and careful coordination, indicating the involvement of an organized criminal network.The burglars reportedly breached the rear wall of the bank, entered the premises unnoticed, and used gas-welding equipment and specialized tools to cut open the strong locker system.
During the hours long operation, the suspects managed to take away approximately Rs.13.5 million in cash, along with gold ornaments worth several crores of rupees deposited by customers for safekeeping.In a particularly alarming development, the criminals also removed the entire CCTV control room and surveillance record, apparently to wipe out any trace that could help investigators identify them.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the incident is that the burglary occurred in a densely populated urban locality, where breaching a wall, cutting lockers with gas equipment, and removing valuables would have taken considerable time and coordination. Despite this prolonged activity, no security guard reportedly raised an alarm, no resistance was offered, and police were not alerted during the operation, exposing serious weaknesses in security arrangements at a major financial institution.
Security observers believe the scale and nature of the operation strongly suggest prior reconnaissance and possible insider level knowledge of the bank’s layout and surveillance mechanisms, making the incident even more alarming for customers and authorities alike.Residents of the area described the incident as shocking and unprecedented, raising serious concerns about how criminals could break into a major bank branch on Eid night, cut open lockers, steal crores in valuables, and even remove surveillance evidence without detection.
Police have launched an investigation and initiated efforts to trace the suspects and recover the stolen assets.However, the incident has already sparked serious concerns regarding the safety of financial institutions in Peshawar, particularly during festive occasions when security vulnerabilities are often exploited.
The public now anxiously awaits whether law enforcement agencies will succeed in solving this high profile Eid night mega bank heist and restoring confidence or whether the case will fade like many other major incidents after a brief period of public attention.
