Six-member gang held in Peshawar over mobile snatching and street crimes

PESHAWAR: City police in Peshawar on Monday said they had arrested a six-member gang allegedly involved in mobile phone snatching and other street crimes in Hayatabad.

According to a police statement, the arrests were made by Hayatabad police during a search operation launched in the area. The statement said the suspects were wanted in serious offences, including mobile snatching, and that stolen valuables were recovered from them during the action.

The operation was carried out on the directives of SP Cantonment Abdullah Ahsan, the statement added. Police identified the arrested men as Shoaib, Asad, Mohammad Toray, Ismail, Daniyal, Syed Rehman and Aftab.

The statement said the suspects belonged to Afghanistan, Punjab and different parts of Peshawar. They had been involved in incidents of motorcycle theft and mobile phone snatching in various neighbourhoods and markets of the city.

Recovered items

Police said the group was also involved in dismantling stolen motorcycles and selling them as spare parts at low prices.

During the operation, police recovered Rs435,000 in cash, which the statement said had been obtained through the sale of stolen motorcycles. In addition, officers seized eight snatched mobile phones and four stolen motorcycles from the suspects' possession.

The arrests were announced in an official statement issued after the search operation in Hayatabad. The statement described the suspects as a gang linked to street crime and mobile snatching cases reported in different parts of Peshawar.

The police statement said the action formed part of efforts by Hayatabad police against criminal activity in the area. It specifically linked the arrested men to mobile snatching, motorcycle theft and the sale of stolen motorcycles in the form of spare parts.

Authorities said the recovered cash, mobile phones and motorcycles had been taken into custody following the arrests. The statement did not provide further details beyond the identities of the accused, their stated places of origin, and the items recovered during the operation.

The development was reported from Peshawar, where police said the operation targeted suspects allegedly involved in a pattern of street crime affecting local markets and other parts of the city.