GUJRAT, Nov 5: A 22-member team from Lahore has initiated a probe into the authenticity of cases of illicit arms possession registered in 16 police stations of the district, Dawn learnt here on Monday.

A source in police department told this correspondent on condition of anonymity that the investigators, led by SSP Major Mubashar (retired), would investigate the cases registered by Gujrat police between Aug 10 and Sept 15.

The investigators would meet with every jailed or bailed-out accused in such cases and record their statements. The SHOs would have to ensure presence of the accused out on bail in police stations. The probe will be completed in three weeks, he concluded.

Another police source told this reporter that on Monday the team comprising weapons and explosive experts had visited the Gujrat Sadar, A-division, Jalalpur Jattan Sadar and city police stations where the record was scrutinized and the recovered illicit weapons inspected.

To a query, he did not confirm if any irregularity had been detected by the investigators.

The authorities ordered the probe following a departmental inquiry’s finding that B-division police had indeed framed innocent people in fabricated cases and four of them, arrested by the Akora Khattak police, were carrying arms from Darrah Adamkhel to Gujrat to show recovery.

Meanwhile, the Peshawar High Court has also rejected the bail applications of the four arrested policemen. Earlier, a Nowshera court had rejected their bail applications.