Rawalpindi- A dacoit involved in snatching a purse from a female school teacher in Azizabad area was arrested by a team of Race Course police station after an exchange of fire during a raid in a graveyard in Dhoke Syedan here on Friday, according to sources.
However, another dacoit managed to escape from the scene, they said. The detained accused identified as Anees Iqbal sustained a bullet injury in the right wrist and was moved to District Headquarters Hospital Raja Bazaar for medical treatment, sources said.
A police spokesman also confirmed that the accused involved in snatching a purse from a school teacher moving in a street was nabbed by a police raiding party in an injured condition and recovered purse, cash and motorcycle.
A case was registered against the accused while further investigation was underway, he said.
According to sources, a girl was heading towards her home in Azizabad area when a dacoit riding on a motorcycle covering his face grabbed the strip of her purse and dragged her due to which she fell in a dangerous way on the concrete road. After committing the crime, the snatcher managed to escape from the scene.
A video showing the bike rider snatching purse from the school teacher and dragging her on the road went viral on social media earning a vast amount of attention from the public. Taking notice of the occurrence of incident, City Police Officer (CPO) Muhammad Ahsan Younas ordered Superintendent of Police (SP) Potohar Division Tassawar Iqbal to trace out the culprit. Following the directions of CPO, SP Tassawar Iqbal constituted a special team under surveillance of SDPO Cantt Circle Syed Azhar Hussain Shah tasking to arrest the culprit, sources added. The police team managed to trace out the culprit by using human intelligence, they said adding that a raid was carried out in the graveyard where the culprit along with his accomplice was sitting and planning to commit another crime, sources said. The accused was held by police after an exchange of fire and moved to hospital as he sustained bullet injury on right wrist, sources said. The accomplice of the culprit ran away from the scene.
SDPO Syed Azhar Hussain Shah, when contacted, said police on a tip-off carried out a raid in a graveyard in Dhoke Syedan when the two culprits started firing on a police party. Police retaliated and held Anees Iqbal in an injured condition. “The notorious purse snatcher showed resistance when a police party raided the graveyard to arrest him,” said police spokesman SI Sajjad Ul Hassan. He said police retaliated and overwhelmed the accused. He said the accused is a habitual criminal and involved in a series of street crimes. He said CPO Muhammad Ahsan Younas appreciated the efforts of the police raiding team and also announced cash prizes for the police party. IGP Punjab Inam Ghani in a tweet said, “Well done Rawalpindi Police for arresting this criminal who snatched the purse of your sister in the street. I am sure you will be able to keep him away from our streets and behind the bars for a long time.”