KOHAT: Inter-provincial and local gangs of car-lifters have become active in the district, lifting 20 vehicles, including 16 motorcycles, during the last fortnight.

The police, however, claimed that it had recovered two cars, a coaster and two motorcycles which were snatched on gunpoint and from inside of houses, and arrested nine members of the gang.

A police official told Dawn on Tuesday that still some members of the gang were active and efforts were on to arrest them and recover the snatched vehicles.

He said a case was registered about snatching of a coaster on gunpoint by two car-lifters identified as Faizaullah and Sanaullah, adding the Riaz Shaheed police officials raided a house in Nakband and recovered the vehicle and arrested the auto thieves, who were sent to jail.

Two cars were also recovered which were stolen from Bilitang town and OTS road, the police official said, adding one car belonged to Faizullah of Togh Bala. He said the police arrested Taj Mohammad of Orakzai Agency.

He said a car snatched from OTS road from a resident of Dear Ismail Khan, Kamran Raza, had also been recovered, adding the alleged car snatcher, Zakir of Charsadda, was still at large.

Meanwhile, the police held seven proclaimed offenders involved in murders, attempted murders and kidnappings, in a crackdown against criminals.

Those arrested were identified as Noor Jamil, Arsala Khan, Shah Mehmood, Habib Rasool, Khayal Khan, Mohammad Idrees and Obaidullah.

The police also seized weapons, including two Kalashnikovs, two rifles, three shotguns, four pistols, three daggers and hundreds of cartridges.

The accused were presented before a judge who sent them to prison on physical remand.

BOY MOLESTED: A first-year student was allegedly molested by three accused in Dhoda area of Bilitang, and the police have arrested two of them after a medical report confirmed the incident on Tuesday.

The student told the Bilitang police that he was forcibly taken to a place by three accused and was assaulted sexually. The police shifted the victim to the women and children hospital.

A court remanded the arrested men into police custody for interrogation.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2016