LAHORE: The AntiVehicle Lifting Squad (AVLS) of police claimed on Wednesday to have arrested four members of a gang involved in car theft cases and recovered 11 vehicles from their custody.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Amin Wains took notice of the increasing vehicle theft incidents in the city and directed SSP (Investigation) Hassan Mushtaq Sukhera to take steps to arrest the criminals involved in the crime.

On the direction of the SSP, a team led by Model Town AVLS DSP Mukhtar Butt collected the data, conducted raids in differentareas and arrested ringleader Zahid Shah and three other gang members identified as Maqbol, Saif and Yousuf.

The police team also recovered 11 cars worth Rs6.2 million.

The investigator said that the gangsters would unlock vehicles with duplicate keys.

He said the criminals would often alter the chassis and numbers plates of stolen vehicles and sell them in other districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Some stolen vehicles were also dismantled before being sold in the scrap, he said.

The CCPO praised the efforts of the police team and announced cash prizes and commendatory certificates for them.