An armed thief dubbed the ”Burkha Bandit” has struck again at a travel agents’ dressed head to toe in the traditional Muslim woman’s garment, police revealed.
The man burst into Thomson Travel in Dunstable, Beds., at 10.40am on Saturday and threatened a customer and two female members of staff with a knife.
He forced one employee to fill a square black bag with cash from a till and from an office before escaping through the front door.
The crook, believed to be of mixed race, was wearing a black burkha, with a silver or grey floral design pattern on one half of the garment, and black plimsolls.
The raid comes less than a year after a man dressed in the traditional Muslim garment walked into First Choice Travel in Dunstable at around 10.15am on July 7.
He threatened two female members of staff with a knife before taking cash and escaping through the back door.
The same technique was used at the Thomson travel shop in Luton on August 16, when a burkha-clad man escaped through the front door at around 11am with a ”large amount of cash”.
A spokeswoman for Bedfordshire Police said that the perpetrators of the previous attacks had not been caught.
She added: ”Police are keeping an open mind as to whether these incidents are linked and the investigating officer will continue with the previous cases.”
DC Gill Cowley, investigating, is keen to speak to anyone who saw the man entering the shop, making off or getting into a vehicle.
She said: ”This was an extremely frightening incident for the staff and customer in the shop.
”However, they did exactly the right thing by remaining calm and not provoking the offender.
”His disguise was so distinctive we are hoping someone recalls seeing him, or even knows who he is.
”We would also appeal to anyone who has sold a burkha to a man fitting this description, or is missing one, to get in touch.”
Another robbery occurred last year on August 25 a man wearing the dress, with two accomplices, took a whopping #150,000 worth of watches from a jewellers in Banbury, Oxon.
They burst into Michael Jones Jewellers at 2.20pm and threatened staff with a handgun and axe before escaping in a black Audi Estate with a haul of Rolex, Cartier and Breitling watches.
Anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
