The police command in Kaduna State said its operatives had arrested three car snatchers and recovered the same number of stolen vehicles from the suspects. 

The command’s police public relations officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Monday in Kaduna.

Mr Hassan said its operatives attached to Zaria City Divisional Headquarters had, on December 23, 2023, at about 6:00 a.m., acted on credible information, and the suspects were arrested at Agoro-Tudun Wada Zaria.

He said one of the suspects was 28 years old and from Hayin Baki Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State. He had a stolen red Toyota Corolla with registration number Kano GWL 188 TT.

Mr Hassan said, “In a related development, operatives of Sabon Gari Zaria Division on the same date, at about 6:30 a.m., arrested a suspect and recovered from his possession a grey-coloured Toyota Corolla LE 2003 model.

“The said suspect confessed to having stolen the vehicle in Kaduna town and brought it to Zaria to dispose of.”

He said the suspect was a dismissed soldier known notoriously for car snatching, theft, and other felonious vices in Benin, Kaduna, and Zaria.

“Equally on December 27, 2023, our operatives of Sabon Gari Zaria Division arrested another suspect of Graceland, Zaria, in possession of a stolen white Toyota Hilux pickup van with registration number Jigawa GML 40 AG,” Mr Hassan said.

He said the suspect claimed to have bought the van from one Ibrahim, with an unknown surname.

Mr Hassan added, “The bona fide owner of the stolen van, of Aliyu Mohammed Road, NDA Kaduna, has since been traced.”

He explained that all three cases were undergoing discreet investigation as the suspects’ accomplices were being trailed for a possible arrest.

“At the end of which they will all be charged to court to face the full wrath of the law,” he said.

Mr Hassan said the state’s commissioner of police, Audu Ali, commended the operatives for their recorded success, charging them not to relent in denying criminal elements any operating space.

He called on the members of the public to always provide security agencies with credible information on suspicious characters in their area for prompt response.

(NAN)