Three of an eight-member gang caught by ACLC in Karachi

Law enforcers recover five stolen vehicles

KARACHI: The Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) claimed to have busted on Monday an interprovincial gang allegedly involved in stealing vehicles.

The ACLC busted an eight- member gang of car thieves from Punjab and arrested three of its most active members, including the gang's kingpin who had been convicted several times in cases related to vehicle snatching, theft and fraud in Faisalabad, Okara, Sheikhapura and Lahore.

The ACLC officials said that the gang had recently shifted to Karachi to evade apprehension by the Punjab police and get a new lease on their criminal activities, adding that having found shelter in a shanty locality of Khamiso Goth, the gang was mostly active in the neighbouring areas of District Central and stole about 40 vehicles in the current year. They most targeted Toyota Corollas and Suzuki Mehrans.



The stolen vehicles were later sold to gullible customers in the Southern belt of Punjab and Peshawar using fake documents, the ACLC officials said, adding that taking advantage of the practice of late registration of FIRs in vehicular theft cases by Karachiites, the thieves would take the vehicles to Punjab with their original number plates, expecting fewer chances of being caught by law enforcers at check-posts.

Five vehicles have been recovered so far, while the authorities in Punjab are being contacted to arrest other absconding gang members and effect recovery of the remaining stolen vehicles.