PESHAWAR, July 2: A gang was arrested when it was planning to kidnap a businessman in the guise of policemen on Tuesday.

City police chief Tanvirul Haq Sipra said at a press conference at the police headquarters on Wednesday that the gang was involved in dozens of cases of kidnapping for ransom, robbery and carjacking in the NWFP and Punjab since 1996.

He said kidnapper Hamidullah and his four accomplices, in fake police uniforms, were waiting on the Charsadda Road near Landy Sarak for the arrival of Mumtaz, a trader of Shoba Bazaar, to kidnap him for ransom.

The police, on a tip-off, apprehended Hameedullah; Musafir, son of Aminullah; Fateh, son of Ghulam Qadir; and Zareef, son of Shah Wali, and seized arms and ammunition, he said and added that they were residents of Kabul, living on the city’s outskirts for a long time.

During interrogation, Mr Sipra said, the gang leader, Hamidullah, confessed that he and his accomplices planned to kidnap Mr Mumtaz, a resident of the Landy Sarak area, for Rs10 million ransom. He said the gang had got information about the trader from his business partner, Feroz Ali.

According to the plan, the accused said, Mr Mumtaz was to be handed over to a notorious kidnapper, Hassan Baaz, a resident of Khyber Agency.

The police also arrested Feroz Ali from his house on Wednesday. They seized three kalashnikovs with 180 rounds and nine magazines, two pistols with 14 bullets and six hand-grenades.