Man in a woman's dress planned to rob a training centre in Tashkent

Officers of the Tashkent city police, together with the State Security Service, foiled an attempted armed robbery of a training centre in the capital, the city police press service said.

According to the police, the plan was organised by a 31-year-old man who had previously worked as a security guard at the training centre. He recruited three acquaintances. Their aim was to steal a large sum of money kept in the building.

Each participant was given a specific role. The former guard was to study the layout inside, find out where the money was kept and pass the information on to his accomplices. One of them was to cut the electricity, while the others were to enter the building through the back door wearing masks, put the money into sacks and drive it away in a car rented in advance. To avoid being recognised, one of the participants dressed in women's clothing.

After the robbery, the suspects planned to leave the country through Fergana region and hide in one of the neighbouring republics.

On the same day, masks, a hammer, a sack, gloves, walkie-talkies, door-breaking tools, duplicate keys and foreign passports were seized from the detainees.

A criminal case has been opened under Article 164 of Uzbekistan's Criminal Code (robbery). The detainees have been remanded in custody, and an investigation is under way.