Rawalpindi: The New Town Police have busted a gang of carjackers and drug-pushers active under the command of the brother of a local leader of the ruling party, arresting a member of the gang with a stolen car and a huge quantity of hashish from New Katarian, police sources told ‘The News’ here on Wednesday.
Two members of the gang managed to escape when police intercepted the car, police said. However, police have registered a case against the three men allegedly involved in the offence.
A team of the New Town Police Station tried to stop a Toyota Corolla car, bearing registration number JJ-858-ICT, at a barrier on a road at New Katarian for routine checking, but the driver tried to escape from the scene. However, the police team chased the car and intercepted it a few hundred yards from the police barrier and nabbed the driver, identified as Ahmad, while two others managed to escape from the scene.
Sources said that police recovered three kilograms of hashish from the car during search conducted at the spot, adding that Ahmad, during preliminary investigation, disclosed that he hailed from Lahore. He said that the car used in the crime (JJ-858-ICT) was stolen from the airport area.
The arrested man disclosed the identity of his two accomplices, who escaped from the scene, as Shaikh Usman (resident of Imambarah Mohallah) and Sajid alias Kaku (resident of Dhoke Chiraghdin), police sources said.
They said that after moving to Rawalpindi from Lahore, Ahmad joined a gang of carjackers and drug-pushers based at Imambara Mohallah, which was headed by the brother of a local leader of the ruling party, who used his political influence to provide protection to the gang from police.
On the other side, the car theft and snatching incidents have increased in the city but police could not make any effective strategy in this connection. At least, 13 vehicles have been reported stolen from various localities of Rawalpindi during the last 24 hours while police failed to register the majority of these cases.
(The News)
**********