Robbers looted $25,000, jewelry, and other valuable items from a family in Karachi on Friday, said the first information report (FIR). The family had returned from New York. The suspects apparently disguised themselves as government officers and looted the family in the city’s Gharibabad Lalukhet area.

The incident occurred on Friday at 4am at Sir Sultan Shah Road, Bandhani Colony, Furniture Market when the complainant, Ahmed Nawaz, was going back after receiving the victims from the airport.

Faisal Karim along with his wife had arrived in Karachi from the United States to attend a ceremony.

“A car, in which two people were sitting, stopped our car after giving side. They asked us to show licence, saying that they have received information that suspicious people are in this vehicle,” the complaint said.

The unidentified suspects presented themselves as “government officers” and sought passports to check their identity.

The complaint was registered under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 379 (punishment for theft) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

“Faisal Karim gave his wife’s purpose to the [suspected] government officers,” it said. The purse, FIR said, contained passports, $25,000, around 10 tolas of gold jewelry, mobile phones, a US identity card, a US driving licence and a credit card.

The robbers checked returned the passports but took away the purse, it said, adding: “The couple has to return back to the US on February 16.”