LAHORE: Police claimed on Monday to have arrested 11 members of two gangs and recovered 21 cars, 36 motorcycles, five auto rickshaws and illegal weapons.

In a press conference held at Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines, CIA SP Umar Virk said teams were constituted to nab the suspects involved in stealing cars and motorcycles.

He said some 50 check posts had been established in different areas of the city and raids were carried out in some cities of the province to arrest the suspects.

He said the suspects were operating in gangs and were using master keys to unlock the vehicles parked at different streets and markets. The suspects were transporting the stolen vehicles to Peshawar through motorway and selling them to Naeem Khan and Zaffar Pathan, he added.

He said the suspects were selling the cars and motorcycles in different cities including Sargodha, Sialkot and Hafizabad after changing the engine and chassis numbers and making fake documents.

The suspects were identified as Zubair Ikram alias Zubairi, Aijaz Ahmed alias Doctor, Muhammad Sabir, Tasawur Abbas alias Cheeko, Mohsin alias Mani, Abbas, Naeem, Muhammad Imran, Shahid Ali, Babar Ali and Saeed Agha.

The suspects were involved in 56 cases registered against them in different police stations including one in Misri Shah, three in Lower Mall, two in Lorry Adda, one in Shahdara Town, two in Nawab Town, four in Johar Town, one in Chuhng, one in Township, five in Factory Area, two in Defence-A, two in Harbanspura, one in Baghbanpura, one in Liaquatabad, two in Kot Lakhpat, one in Naseerabad, one in Nishtar Colony, three in Ghalib Market, three in Garden Town, one in Gulberg, two in Gulshan-i-Ravi, one in Sanda, two in Samanabad, one in Sherakot, six in Iqbal Town, two in Shalimar and two in Old Anarkali.

Police recovered 21 stolen cars, five auto rickshaws and 36 motorcycles and a ceremony was held to hand over the vehicles to their owners.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2015

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