Quetta police nab five involved in robbing 28 shops

Ringleader believed to have escaped to Afghanistan

QUETTA: The Quetta police have booked five members of a gang involved in robbing over two dozen shops in Quetta’s Pashtoonabad area and recovered looted cell phones, cash, four motorbikes and weapons.

Addressing a news conference on Saturday, Quetta Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that the gang, comprising seven members, including two Afghan nationals, robbed 28 shops in Pashtoonabad on April 1, which sparked anger among the business community.

“We constituted two investigation teams, comprising members of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) and district police. They identified five of the seven robbers and promptly arrested them.”

He said that the hunt for the two remaining robbers, including the gang leader, was under way, adding that it was believed that they had fled to Afghanistan.

Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Mubeen Khan Khilji, police officials and the president of the Balochistan Traders Association, Raheem Kakar, were present at the news conference.

The DIG added that the police action has resulted in the recovery of looted cash, cell phones, watches, motorbikes and weapons from the robbers’ compound.

Assuring the business community of protection, he said that a team of the Eagle Squad had been deployed in the area. “But we have been requesting the trader communities across the city to install CCTV cameras around their shops,” DIG Cheema added.

He added that police in the provincial capital were promptly responding to complaints, which was evident in the results. “The counter-terrorism department has nabbed an active terrorist from Quetta. We expect to gain valuable information from him,” he said, while responding to a query.

Addressing the news conference, MPA Khilji lauded the police team for solving the mystery of the robbery in the provincial capital. He added that more cameras would be installed in the city in order to augment the efforts of the police and the provincial government for eradicating crimes from the province.

DIG Cheema announced cash rewards for the police personnel who participated in the action against the gang of robbers.