FAISALABAD, Sept 30: The local police claimed to have arrested 22 proclaimed offenders, five alleged rapists and six gangsters involved in a number of incidents of heinous crime during a week-long drive.

DPO Muhammad Amin Wains told newsmen that a Thikriwala police team held Saqlain, Murtaza, Sadiq, Nasir and Mazhar for their alleged involvement in a gang-rape case of two sisters at Chak 32-GB.

He said that all the arrested outlaws were booked under the Hudood Ordinance. The DPO further claimed that a six-member gang of outlaws had become a symbol of terror for the people of Dijkot.

After their frantic efforts, the police rounded up all the bandits and recovered looted articles from them. The arrested bandits were identified as ring leader Nawaz, Khalid, Muhammad Hussain, Hidayat, Zulfiqar and Fauji.

Similarly, he said the police teams of Thikriwala, Chak Jhumra, Lundianwala, Jaranwala, Ghulam Muhammadabad, Garah, Sargodha Road, City Samundri, Mamukanjan and D-Type Colony arrested 22 POs wanted in a number of incidents of dacoity, theft, vehicle-snatching, murder and attempted murder.

Those arrested were: Lal Din, Ali Nawaz, Amanat Ali, Jawed Iqbal, Shahbaz Masih, Akram, Umer Draz, Sarfraz, Iqbal, Maqbool, Nausher, Sarfraz, Naveed, Usman, Yaseen, Tanveer, Nawaz, Sarfraz, Imran, Muhammad Hussain, Abdul Ghafoor and Azhar Abbas.

The police had also recovered huge quantity of illicit weapons, drugs and looted goods from the outlaws. The DPO said that more raids were being conducted for the arrest of accomplices of the arrested bandits.

Meanwhile, Faisalabad Range DIG Rana Abid Saeed claimed that not a single incident of dacoity or theft had been occurred in the famous eight bazaars, Clock Tower, in the last eight months due to installation of close circuit cameras.

Speaking at a ceremony arranged by the local trade associations at the Clock Tower Intersection, the DIG said that a number of security plans had been introduced by the police to protect the lives and properties of the citizens.

He said the traders and industrialists were playing a pivotal role in the implementation of these plans by providing required funds and infrastructure. This trend, he said, had not only supported the police but also resulted in bridging the gap between the police and the public. District Nazim Zahid Nazir said that huge funds had been allocated for providing security to the people.