Motorway robbery case: 5-member gang busted, looted money recovered

NOWSHERA: The police here on Friday claimed to have recovered looted money and arrested five members of a gang.

Speaking at a press conference, District Police Officer (DPO) Najmul Hasnain said that the accused posing as officials of the Excise and Taxation Department had snatched over Rs10 million from the driver of a tobacco company on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway in the limits of Nowshera district.

He said that the arrested accused also include an official of Mardan Police. The DPO said that two accomplices of the accused had fled to Afghanistan while a search had been launched to apprehend another two fleeing accomplices of the accused.

The DPO said that Nihar Ali, the driver of the tobacco company, had reported to the police that he had gone to Chakwal in Punjab to collect the money and was intercepted by the accused posing as officials of the Excise and Taxation Department on the motorway on his way back.

Nihar Ali, the official maintained, had reported to the police that the accused had fled after snatching the money from him.

Earlier, taking strict notice of the incident, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Mardan Range, Sher Akbar Khan had constituted a joint investigation team.

The joint Investigation team investigated the case on a scientific and technical basis using all available resources and traced the ringleader of the gang in a short time.

Police arrested the accused, Sharifullah, with support of the capital police from Islamabad and shifted him to Nowshera after completion of legal process.