PESHAWAR, Dec 15: The city police on Thursday claimed to have arrested four alleg-ed kidnappers from Hayatabad township before they could kidnap a local trader for ransom. An official statement said the police took the four into custody at a checkpoint after receiving information about the presence of a kidnappers’ gang in Hayatabad.

The statement said police erected barricades at all exit points of the township.

The car, containing four persons, was ordered to stop at Gulono intersection in the limits of the Tatara police station.

A thorough search yielded two 30-bore pistols, four bogus number-plates, women’s clothes and a rope, the statement said.

Those, who were taken into custody were identified as Inayatullah and Alamgir, residents of Charsadda; Mohammad Rashid and Munir, residents of Kurram Agency.

The police statement said the four accused had confessed that they were kidnappers and were planning to kidnap the owner of Abid Medicos.

Meanwhile, the city police have arrested car-lifters and recovered four stolen vehicles from their possession, said another press release issued here on Thursday.

The police in different raids arrested Akbar Ali, a resident of Nasir Bagh and Ashiq Hussain, a resident of Nawa Kallay and recovered three stolen Suzuki cars from their possession.

The police have registered a case and started investigation.

Separately, the Pishtakhara police have recovered a car snatched from Mohammad Yunus by four persons on gun point on the Bara Road.