February 28, 2008	Thursday	Safar 20 ,1429

KARACHI, Feb 27: Three cops were suspended for negligence and one of them was arrested after a criminal escaped from the lock-up of Chakiwara police station late Tuesday night.

SHO Chaudhry Aslam Gujjar said that Sajjad and Shamshad were arrested after an encounter on Sunday. Illegal arms were recovered from their custody. An FIR (40/2008) was lodged against them under Sections 353, 392 of the PPC and 13-D of the arms ordinance, he said. Police said they were kept at police station’s lock-up. At around 2am on Tuesday night, Sajjad went to the washroom adjacent to the lock-up. He locked the door from inside. As he did not return in the next few minutes, a policeman on guard broke open the door and found that the criminal had already escaped by removing the grill installed at the ventilation window of the toilet.

Three policemen Abdul Ghafoor, Riffat and Akbar were suspended for negligence. An FIR (43/2008) under Sections 223 and 224 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) was lodged against the cop for negligence that resulted in the escape of criminal. After the case was lodged, Abdul Ghafoor was arrested, the SHO said.

The SHO said that police raided the residence of an uncle of the accused in Mawachh Goth in the small hours of Wednesday, but failed to locate him.

Passengers robbed

A minibus was, meanwhile, looted in the limits of Sharea Faisal police station on Wednesday afternoon.

Four armed men, who were travelling in X-24 minibus (JE-2404), unveiled their guns when the bus was near Dalmia. They collected cash and cellular phones from the passengers at gunpoint and fled.

The affected passengers later staged a protest demonstration against the area police. Police sources said the bandits belonged to the criminal gangs operating in Shanti Nagar, Mujahid Colony.

Gang busted

Two masterminds of an inter-provincial gang of car lifters were arrested by the anti-car lifting unit of police on Wednesday.

The ACLU also recovered eight vehicles from their possession. The accused, Mohammed Asif and Asif, were arrested from Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Do-minute Chowrangi in North Karachi.

The accused used to lift and snatch vehicles at gunpoint in different parts of the city and sell the stolen vehicles in Punjab and Balochistan.

Police recovered an Alto (ANH-930), Subaru (AAH-494), Suzuki Mehran (ANS-930) and Cuore (AKK-749) which were taken away from Ferozabad, Azizabad, Mobina Town and Gizri.

Following the initial interrogation, police recovered four more cars, Corolla (D-1189), Mehran (AHZ-075), Khyber (U-4555) and Alto (ANY-409).—APP/PPI