Junk dealers involved in robberies

ISLAMABAD, March 30: City police put a different spin on the rags-to-riches stories when they claimed that junkyards serve as hiding place for the riches robbers and burglars steal from the citizens. "They (the thieves) are from Afghanistan, Punjab and Kohistan and operating in the capital city under the guise of junk dealers for the last a couple of years. The accused have links in Afghanistan and efforts are in progress to trace the links," sources in the Shalimar police told Dawn on Wednesday. They said the accused used to dump their booties in the junkyards and hideouts in the Margalla forest behind Bari Imam area. They used to carry out reconnaissance of their targets in daylight while collecting junks from the streets of posh areas and came back at night to rob or burglar them. The involvement of the junk dealers in robbery and burglary incidents came to light when the police started investigating a robbery case committed in a house at E-11 in the second week of March. During the investigation, the police spotted a suspect and mounted intelligence on him. Later, it was revealed that the suspect had link with some junk dealers operating in Golra, Merabadi, Shehzad Town, Bari Imam, G-7 and F-11. The police picked the suspect and on his information raided some junkyards which led to the arrest of 16 alleged robbers operating as junk dealers. It was also revealed that they had criminal record and were arrested in the past. Their ring leader was released from Adiala Jail four months back in connection with the illegal activities. The accused used to rob people and bring the booties to different junkyards to hide them there. Later, the loot was transferred to the hideouts set up in the forest. The police also raided the hideouts and recovered a handsome amount of looted items, including two vehicles. The accused told the police that the looted items were transported to Afghanistan and sold there. However, the police believed that the items were disposed of somewhere in Pakistan. All the accused had three to four computerised national identity cards (CNICs) issued by Nadra. They used to change their identity and residences after every four to five months. Though having different ethnic backgrounds, the gang members have become a big family in crime.