Timely action: Stolen NATO container recovered in Nowshera

Seven alleged thieves were also arrested.

PABBI: A stolen container carrying Nato supplies from Afghanistan to Karachi was recovered by the Pabbi police in Nowshera on Wednesday. Seven alleged thieves who were trying to steal goods from the container were also arrested.

Nowshera DPO Waqar Ahmad said he directed the Pabbi police under the supervision of SHO Muhammad Ijaz to raid a secret warehouse based on intelligence information.



The warehouse was located near Malang CNG station on Nowshera-Peshawar GT Road. The container was recovered, but the DPO said he was unaware if the seal was broken. “We informed a Nowshera civil judge who inspected the container, but did not suggest anything about a broken seal,” said the DPO.

Pabbi police official Maqsood Khan said they arrested a man identified as Muhammad Ikram, a resident of Landikotal, along with six others. “The accused was trying to cut the seal when we arrested him with cutting tools,” he said. The suspected thieves were put behind bars and an investigation has been launched, he added.

Ikram confessed the container was bound for Karachi  during an interrogation, and  that he was informed it was loaded with weapons and power generators. “We were trying to take out the generators when the police raided,” Ikram revealed.

He also admitted to stealing goods from containers previously and said the driver, Raees Khan, who managed to escape during the raid, had told him to break the seal. “I hadn’t broken the seal at the time of our arrest,” he claimed.

Maqsood said the container will be shifted to Jamrud for screening and inspection.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2013.