KARACHI: Police on Sunday claimed to have arrested two key members of a gang of ‘Afghan bandits’ who were involved in several cases of robberies and had also murdered a policeman recently.

The Counter Terrorism Department of Karachi police said in a statement that ‘gang leader’ Najeebullah and his aide Saddam were arrested in a raid on intelligence reports.

The police also recovered arms and ammunition from their possession, it said.

“The gang is the most fearsome and organised group of armed bandits,” said the statement quoting its chief Raja Umar Khattab as saying.

“It comprises 10 members who are all Afghans. They all are wanted in several cases of armed robberies, street crimes and murder. Najeebullah is the leader of the gang and wanted by Karachi police in several cases.”

On Feb 13 two of the gang members had killed policeman Abdul Wahid in North Karachi during an armed mugging attempt, the statement added.

During the initial investigation, the arrested suspects shared with the police the names of their gang members who were involved in the policeman’s killing, said the statement.

“The members of the gang are frequent visitors to Afghanistan. And after every major job, they run away to the neighbouring country and return back after every a few weeks,” it added.

The suspects were wanted in several cases registered with Sachal, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Sohrab Goth, Gulberg and Bahadurabad police stations.

They had been arrested in the past, but had been freed from jail after getting bail, the statement concluded.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2024