Gang of DHA, Clifton bandits busted

Suspects allegedly targeted women to loot gold and other valuables

KARACHI:

Women can now feel safer in the posh localities of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton as police claim to have busted a three-member gang involved in the looting of gold, jewellery, cash and other valuables.

The trio targeted women when they were walking to their workplace or for shopping, revealed South District Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Ejaz Ahmad Rai as he spoke to a press conference alongside SSP Investigation Dr Farrukh Raza.

They said that law enforcers have recovered 20 tolas of gold, cash, and mobile phones snatched during different incidents. Police also seized pistols from the suspects.

The arrested suspects included the head of the gang, named Jibran Yaseen, and two accomplices Waqas Abdul Habib and Anis Muhammad Yusuf.

SSP Rai said the gang had been active for the last two years. He claimed that the criminals had spread much fear in the mentioned areas due to women being deprived of jewellery, purses and cell phones.

He explained that the accused first conducted a reconnaissance of office blocks and shopping areas, all while sipping tea at kiosks and frequenting out at cigarette cabins. The suspects would observe women coming and going and then select the target wearing gold chain and accessories.

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Once finalised, the gang would attack the woman. After swiftly holding her hostage at gunpoint, they would snatch jewellery, valuables and flee.

SSP Raza said the gang committed at least three to four robberies in a week and the arrested accused have confessed to more than 100 robberies during preliminary investigation. The arrested suspects are involved in 10 robberies in DHA and Clifton this year alone. CCTV footage of the incident has also been obtained.

Police said that Gibran, the ringleader of the arrested group, had lived in South Africa and there was the mark of a gunshot wound on his arm. Reportedly, the injury had been inflicted by political opponents.

Police added that the group had acquired licenced firearms and would show the documentation whenever stopped at a checkpoint.

SSP South assured that those jewellers, who sold the stolen goods snatched by the bandits, would also be prosecuted.

It was stated that Jibran, the ringleader of the arrested gang and one of his accomplices, had been arrested twice and had gone to jail. The suspect, according to the officer, had formed a new group in prison.

Answering questions, SSP Raza claimed that not a single house has been robbed in his district over the last a month and ten days in his jurisdiction. He added work investigations are underway on the robberies that had occurred in the past.

SSP South, while responding to question about the suspect who snatched cash in the guise of a policeman on Sea View, said the perpetrator has been identified.

"Police will arrest the imposter cop wherever he was hiding," he said. The criminal record of the accused was also being obtained by the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2022.