PESHAWAR, Jan 6: Police on Saturday foiled an attempt to hijack a taxi which had been snatched from its driver in the Pabbi area and was being taken towards Jamrud.

SP Ijaz Khan at a press conference in the Police Lines said a gang of car-lifters had been arrested after a shootout near Nasir Bagh. The accused were identified as Habib, an Afghan national, Mohammad Ali and Imran of Peshawar, and Shakirullah of Tirai Bala.

He said the taxi had been hired by some gang members from a bus stand in Rawalpindi. The police, the SP said, cordoned off the area on receiving information about the incident and arrested the accused after an encounter at Juma Khan Khwar in the limits of the Nasir Bagh police station.

SP Ijaz claimed that two of the criminals’ accomplices who had been declared proclaimed offenders, Sajjad and Taj Wazir, had also been arrested.

“The group evaded arrest because of their resemblance to Madressah students,” he claimed.Meanwhile, police arrested a man, Waqas of Abbottabad, and seized fake currency notes amounting to Rs5000 from his possession.