Three ‘car lifters' shot dead by own group members' firing in Islamabad

• Police mapped route of their travelling pattern, says spokesperson.
• Suspects were wanted in multiple criminal cases, say police. 
• Islamabad Police say two of deceased have been identified.

ISLAMABAD: At least three suspects involved in car lifting were Sunday killed by own accomplices’ firing in Islamabad.

The Islamabad Police spokesperson said law enforcers had been in pursuit for the suspects belonging to a dangerous gang involved in stealing vehicles.

The spokesperson said they gathered information about the gang with the help of human sources and Safe City surveillance cameras. They had even mapped a route of their travelling pattern, the official added.

The sources tipped off police that the gang had left for Murree, upon which Anti Vehicle Lifting Cell (AVLC), CRT and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) teams set up special checkpoints at different locations, said Islamabad Police.

“Today morning, the gang members travelling in vehicles opened firing on police teams as the latter tried to stop their vehicle coming from the Murree Road at Kashmir Chowk,” said the police spox.

The official said the suspects were travelling in two vehicles, one Corolla GLI and other Honda Civic.

Firing from their vehicle killed three of the gang members travelling in another car and wounded a passerby woman, the official said, adding that the culprits in the first car fled.

The bodies and injured were immediately shifted to hospital for medico-legal formalities and treatment respectively.

Two of the deceased have been identified as Ilyas Khan and Waqas Khan, both are residents of Charsadda, whereas, the third body could not be identified till filing of the report. Ilyas was the ringleader of the gang, said police. While the wounded person has been identified as Haseeba Amjad.

"It was a large inter-provincial gang involved in car theft who stole vehicles in different cities from Karachi to Islamabad," said DIG Operations Ali Raza Syed.

The officer said the informants were constantly intimating the law enforcers about their movement in Murree, and from their travelling routine, the police knew that they would take the route of Murree Road, then Srinagar Highway to reach Charsadda through the motorway.

Police said the suspects stole the Corolla vehicle from Murree last night, while Honda car was stolen from Lahore. They recovered several number plates, jammers, mobile phones, ignition breaker, SMG gun and pistols from their car.

Following the incident, a huge contingent of police arrived at the location and dispatched various teams after the suspects who managed to flee.

The spokesperson said the suspects were wanted in multiple criminal cases.