KOHAT: The local police on Wednesday arrested three members of an inter-provincial gang of robbers who were fleeing to Peshawar in a car after striking at a petrol depot in Karak district.

The robbers entered a petrol shop in Takht-i-Nasrati tehsil, took the owner hostage and deprived him of Rs500,000, according to a report registered in Karak against them.

The Karak police informed their counterparts in Kohat that the robbers had fled the district using the Indus Highway.

The Kohat police chief ordered strict checking on all the routes going to Peshawar, Hangu and Rawalpindi.

The Jarma police spotted the car going to Peshawar at a barricade at Muslimabad on the Indus Highway. It was signaled to stop but the driver tried to speed away. The vehicle was chased and stopped at some distance.

The three robbers belonging to Charsadda district were identified as Suleman, Raheem Khan and Gul Bacha. An amount Rs184,000 was also recovered from them.

During preliminary interrogation, the robbers admitted to the crime. Later, they were presented in a court which sent them to prison on judicial remand. They would be handed over to the Karak police on the expiry of remand, police said.

SUSPECTS HELD: The police on Wednesday arrested at least 45 suspected persons and recovered illegal weapons during an operation in remote areas along the tribal belt.

The action was carried out in the mountainous Manda Khel participated by elite force, lady police, bomb disposal squad and armoured personnel carriers.

During house-to-house search the police rounded up 45 suspects and recovered two small machine guns, two repeaters, three rifles, four shotguns and four pistols from them. The accused were shifted to Bilitang police station.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2015