Four arrested as ACLC busts car-lifting gang

The Anti Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) on Wednesday arrested four members of a vehicle-lifting gang from North Nazimabad, including its leader and also recovered the stolen vehicles.

According to a statement issued, the ACLC received credible information regarding the gang’s presence in the city and that they would be moving upcountry from their hideout via North Nazimabad.

Acting on the information, the ACLC personnel installed check-posts near KDA Chowrangi. They came across a vehicle with four suspicious-looking persons in it and signaled for it to pull over upon which the men opened fire and the police retaliated.

After the exchange of fire, the police arrested the four accused, Farooq Ahmed, Irfan Ali Jatoi, Hafeezullah and Wahid Bus Shaikh, and seized the vehicle, which was a Toyota Corolla stolen on July 6. They were then shifted to an investigation unit.

The suspects revealed that they were involved in other car lifting offences in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, Gulberg, Nagan Chowrangi and Water Pump areas of the city. They confessed to stealing over 150 vehicles.

The culprits carried out these criminal activities wearing police uniforms as well as using a police number plate for their vehicle. They were also involved in stealing a senior civil judge’s vehicle in Tando Allahyar.

The group leader, Farooq, has been involved in various crimes since 2009. He mentioned that Irfan possessed the expertise of defusing the tracker device in vehicles. Irfan’s brothers Sajid Jatoi and Abdul Nabi are also wanted to the police in various criminal offences. Four more vehicles were recovered based on the information collected from the suspects. Further investigations are underway.

Rangers arrest robbers

The Sindh Rangers on Wednesday claimed to have busted an eight-member network of robbers said to be involved in more than 200 dacoities.

According to a spokesperson, Rangers soldiers were carrying out a search for suspects involved in a robbery which took place inside a shoe shop at Tariq Road on July 2.

During the investigation, they were issued directives to conduct snap checking in several areas of the city to locate the suspects. At one such point on Sir Syed Road, the officials signalled to two men on a motorcycle to stop for a check.

However, instead of stopping, the motorcyclists sped away. The Rangers officials then gave chase and managed to apprehend the two suspects. They were shifted to the headquarters for interrogation during which it was confirmed that the two, identified as Farooq Shah and Faisal, were the same suspects who had robbed the Tariq Road shoe shop.

Based on the information provided by the detainees, the Rangers conducted a raid in Soldier Bazaar and arrested six more suspects, dismantling the eight-member gang. The six other arrested suspects were identified as Habib, Sohrab, Zakir, Rashid, Raheel and Irfan. They confessed to being involved in more than 200 robberies parts of the city. They were later handed over to the police for further legal action.

Street crime

Two people were injured in an armed attack on Wednesday on Sharea Faisal. According to rescue officials, 24-yearold Farhan and 22-year-old Muhammad Hanif sustained injuries when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire at them on Sharea Faisal. They were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The motive behind the attack was pt immediately clear.

In a separate incident, a teenager was shot and injured by robbers in Malir. Rescue officials said armed robbers on a bike intercepted 17-year-old Waseem Abbas in the wee hours of Wednesday near Ghazi Town. When he resisted the robbery attempt, they shot at him and escaped. Abbas was taken to JPMC in critical condition.