Two criminals who attacked PIB police post arrested

The Karachi Crime Investigation Agency’s (CIA) Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on Tuesday announced the arrests of four alleged criminals who were arrested in two separate raids.

In a media briefing, Karachi CIA chief DIG Jameel Ahmed said he had directed police officers, including SIU officials, to nab the perpetrators of attacks on policemen and bank robberies in the city.

After completing due diligence and consolidating the information collected, he said, SIU personnel were authorised to conduct a raid in a locality situated behind the Old Sabzi Mandi area.

The accused opened fire on seeing the police and a gun battle ensued that culminated with the arrest of two alleged criminals, namely Mohammed Noman alias Nomi and Amir Hussain, said DIG Jameel. 

He added that two TT pistols and two hand grenades were found on the arrested suspects who belonged to a gang known as the ‘Darwesh Group’. Last year, the PIB Colony police had gunned down three members of the same gang, namely Zia Pathan, Adnan and Imran, in a shootout during a raid on their hideout, he said.

Following the deaths of his accomplices in the encounter, DIG Ahmed said, the gang’s ringleader, Darwesh, had decided to take revenge by targeting policemen in the city. Two members of the Darwesh Group, Ibrahim and China, along with others had attacked a police post in PIB Colony with lethal weapons and hand grenades but, fortunately, no policemen was hurt, he said.

DIG Ahmed said the two arrested suspects were also involved in other crimes and they were wanted by the police of Landhi, Korangi Industrial Area and PIB Colony. Sharing details of the other two suspects, DIG Ahmed they were arrested by a SIU team.

During interrogation, suspects Ghulam Nabi and Syed disclosed that they had robbed a branch of the JS Bank situated in the city’s Jauharabad area along with their accomplices, Yousuf, Yasir, Shafiq and Naseer, in March, 2014, he said. DIG Ahmed added that Naseer had been killed in a shootout with police.  

Narcotics seized

As many as 8.85 kilograms of raw opium were found in a compartment of a passenger bus that arrived in the metropolis from Kharan, Balochistan, via the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) Highway, a customs spokesman said.

The bus was jointly searched by customs officers and Rangers personnel at the Moachko Check Point during the early hours of Tuesday, he said. After opium was found in the bus, the officers seized the vehicle and arrested three suspects, he said, adding that an FIR had been lodged under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997.