SARGODHA, Nov 19: Sargodha police on Saturday claimed to have arrested five members of an inter-provincial gang of car-lifters, including their ringleader, and recovered 22 cars from them. This was disclosed by DPO Muhammad Naeem Khan while talking to reporters at Lukseen police station, some 50 kilometres from here.

The DPO said the gang comprising 17 members had a well-organized network operating in the whole of Punjab. He said the arrested criminals were identified as Allah Yar alias Yaroo of Jhang district, Nayyar Abbas Shah, Ahmad Nawaz Ranjha of Sargodha district, Bahadur Asif of Faisalabad and Irshad Khan of Lahore.

On their pointation, he said the police recovered 22 stolen and snatched cars and sophisticated weapons as well. He said that 10 each cars were snatched from Lahore and Faisalabad and one each from Sargodha and Gujranwala.

The DPO said that Allah Yar along with his gangsters had kidnapped the son of a factory owner in 2002 and later freed him after getting a ransom amount of Rs5 million.

Manga Mandi police had registered a case against the accused. The court had already declared Allah Yar a proclaimed offender while his accomplices were handed down life-term imprisonment.

The DPO further said that one Khawar, a police inspector (now dismissed) was also a member of this gang. The dismissed inspector along with accused Allah Yar had killed four people confined in Kirana police station.

Mr Naeem Khan said the accused were being patronized by influential people, but police would not succumb to any pressure.

Meanwhile, Kotmomen Tehsil Nazim Bakhtiar Mela announced Rs50,000 cash reward for Lukseen SHO Haji Mata Nathoka.