In a major operation, the police in Mardan district claimed to have recovered 21 stolen cars and also arrested four members of a provincial gang of car lifters.
District Police Officer (DPO) Mohammad Sajjad Khan told the media at Mardan Police Lines that they had formed a team comprising Anti-Car Lifting Cell in-charge Qadar Khan, City DSP Bashir Ahmed, Rural DSP Inam Jan Khan, Police Station Hoti SHO Muqadam Khan, and City SHO Muhsan Fawad Khan for the operation.
He said the team arrested four members of the provincial car lifting and snatching gang, identified as Hazir Ali, a resident of Swabi, Sajjad alias Zuber from Sheikh Maltoon Town, Saleem Khan alias Dr Saleem from Takhatbhai, and Ayazof Par Hoti.
He added that the police recovered 21 stolen cars lifted from Punjab and other parts of the country. He added that one of the stolen cars belonged to a member of National Assembly (MNA) from Abbottabad district.
He said the arrested gang members were also wanted by the Islamabad and Swat police in more than 50 cases.
He said Sajjad alias Zuber was the leader of the gang and an expert of tampering cars. He said the police also recovered tools used in car tampering from the arrestees.
He added that in the current year, the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) had seized more than 200 vehicles and busted several gangs of car lifters.
“The gang had set up a WhatsApp group through which they used to exchange information on stolen cars and other dealings. The gang used to bring stolen cars to the house of Hazir Ali in Mardan and then tamper with the vehicles before selling them to people fraudulently,” Sajjad Khan added.
Meanwhile, Abdul Qadir, head of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell in Mardan, told Daily Times that the cell was set up under the supervision of DPO Sajjad Khan in January 2019 and so far it had recovered around 200 stolen vehicles. “The 21 cars were recovered in an operation that took 24 hours,” he added.