ISLAMABAD  -   The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police engaged in a deadly encounter with a notorious inter-provincial car-lifting gang on Sunday that left three gang members killed while a female accomplice was injured in the shootout.

Non-standard number plates, ignition breakers, SMGs, jammers, immobilizers, and pistols were recovered from the dead. According to the police sources, authorities had been tracking the gang for two months based on information from ‘Safe City’ cameras and informants. The police had intelligence that the gang was headed towards Murree, following which special teams from Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell (AVLC), CRT, and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had set up checkpoints in different surrounding areas.

As the vehicles the car-lifters were riding on — a Toyota GLI and a Honda Civic — approached from Murree Road, police attempted to intercept them at the Kashmir Chowk. Suddenly, the gang members opened fire on the police teams. In the exchange, three of the gang members were killed by gunfire from their own partners. One woman, identified as Hasiba Amjad, was injured during the shootout. The police managed to arrest her while the suspects in the GLI vehicle fled the scene. The deceased were identified as Waqas Khan and Ilyas Khan, both known members of the car theft gang.