KARACHI: Three suspects arrested in connection with the murder of young doctor Akash Kumar have made significant disclosures during interrogation, with investigators claiming the same gang was also involved in the 2022 killing of a Hindu businessman during a robbery after he withdrew cash from a bank.
According to investigators, the suspects confessed that their gang had previously targeted businessman Veerbhan, who was shot dead in 2022 after withdrawing Rs7.3 million from a bank.
Police believe the same criminal network was behind both incidents and had adopted a consistent pattern of tracking victims leaving banks with large sums of cash.
The investigation revealed that the suspects belong to the Odh tribe and were previously associated with the Raja Odh gang. Following the deaths of four of the gang’s members in separate encounters, an alleged ringleader identified as Nasir Aslam reorganised the group and formed a new criminal network, investigators said.
Police said the gang specialized in monitoring bank customers carrying substantial amounts of cash before intercepting and robbing them. After committing the crimes, the suspects would allegedly flee to interior Sindh to evade arrest.
Authorities are now searching for three remaining suspects, identified only as Nasir, Mota and a woman believed to have played a role in the gang’s operations. Investigators said efforts were underway to arrest the absconders and recover additional evidence.
The latest revelations come days after police arrested Suresh alias Sagar, Ram Chand and Anil in the high-profile murder case of Dr Akash Kumar, a 28-year-old doctor at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), who was shot dead near Teen Talwar in Karachi’s Clifton area during a robbery after withdrawing around Rs2 million from a private bank. The killing sparked widespread outrage among the medical community and the public.
A judicial magistrate on Thursday remanded the three suspects into police custody for seven days to facilitate further investigation, while prosecutors informed the court that additional accomplices, including a woman, remained at large.
