Rangers and police recover 51 cars in 'country's biggest vehicle-recovery operation'

Gang of car-lifters busted; stolen vehicles were either sold or used in criminal activities across country

KARACHI: Rangers said on Saturday that they had, in a joint venture with police, busted a group involved in stealing cars, which were then used in criminal activities across the country.

The operation was launched by a team comprising paramilitary soldiers and policemen on the instructions of DG Rangers Sindh, Sector Commander Sachal Brigadier Naseem said at a press conference in Karachi. He was flanked by District Central SSP Irfan Baloch.

Brigadier Naseem told reporters that Rangers troops and Sindh police had initially apprehended two suspects who were found in possession of illegal weapons and a stolen car during a joint operation in Nazimabad neighbourhood of the city.

Car thief nabbed in capital; five cars recovered

“The two men, Qazi Munib Ahmed Siddiqui and Sheraz Shaikh, were part of an inter-provincial car lifting group involved in selling and using stolen cars in different parts of the country,” he explained.

“We then recovered 51 cars in the biggest car recovery operation in the country’s history and returned them to their owners,” he added

Most of the recovered cars were various models of Toyota.

"Criminals prefer carrying out their activities in stolen vehicles, however, sometimes these vehicles are also used in terror-related activities," Brigadier Naseem said.

He added that vehicle lifting was a frequent crime but it had reduced considerably due to preemptive actions of law enforcement agencies in the recent past.

Car-lifting: 11 members of a gang arrested

The brigadier said the gang was also involved in renting vehicles through deception. “They acquired cars with their original documents from rent-a-car services offering hefty amount of money claiming that the vehicles were being hired for foreigners working on CPEC. They then sold the vehicles at lower rates,” he explained.

Besides, he added, they also cheated other people.

After deactivating the GPS tracker system, the gang shifted the stolen vehicles to rural Sindh and then used them illegally or sold their parts.



“All these vehicles have been recovered during a countrywide operation in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P),” he said and thanked the Sindh police for assisting the paramilitary force in the biggest recovery operation in Pakistan's history.

Brigadier Naseem said three key leaders of the group had been arrested so far and vowed to continue the operation until all culprits were arrested and all stolen vehicles recovered.

Owners of the recovered vehicles expressed joy over recovery of their vehicles.

“I had lost all hope of getting my car back,” said Muhammad Ali, who lost his vehicle a few months back. “It's really amazing that I will soon get it back.”