PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested seven persons for looting tourists in Malakand division earlier this month.

Briefing mediapersons at the Central Police Office, government spokesperson Kamran Khan Bangash and police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari said the arrests included four robbers and three accomplices, picked from different parts of the city.

On Aug 5, two vehicles carrying tourists to Kumrat area of Upper Dir and Kalam area of Swat were robbed at gunpoint by men dressed in uniform of law enforcement personnel in Lower Dir and Malakand districts. On Aug 9, two tourist vehicles were looted in Swat.

Mr Ansari said the gang was traced following investigation, adding the four robbers belonged to Peshawar, Bajaur and Mardan. He said their three accomplices were involved in tempering international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) numbers.

However, he did not disclose identities of the four robbers citing ongoing investigations. “They have criminal background and one of the accused also remained in jail for 12 years,” he added.

He said the group was in contact with people in Afghanistan and used to sell the tempered phones across the border.

He said the police recovered 102 looted mobile phones, a pistol, a bike, Rs450,000 cash, uniforms of law enforcement agencies, computers and other equipment used to temper the stolen phones.

Mr Ansari said the police had contacted some of the robbed tourists, who identified their belongings recovered from the accused.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2021