Herat police arrest 450 crime suspects in 3 months

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Police on Sunday said they had arrested 450 people in connection with various crimes in western Herat province during the past three months.

Police Chief GhulamSanaiStanekzai told a news conference here the suspects were arrested from different parts of the city and districts.

The detainees faced charges of kidnapping, assassination, armed robbery, drug trafficking and forgery.

He also said 260 insurgents had been killed and about 200 injured in police operations in districts of the province in the past three months.

According to Stanekzai, of the total 450 detainees, 70 were armed robbers and 17 were kidnappers. He said 10 people were rescued from the kidnappers.

He added 20 hand grenades, three walkie-talkies and 50 vehicles were recovered from the detainees.

Police in the past three months also found and defused 150 landmines planted by the Taliban in Herat districts.

Stanekzai said anti-narcotics police seized 70 kilograms of various narcotics, 3,600 liters of alcohol, 5,350 kilograms of iodine, 2,085 kilograms of tablets and trimadol worth 50 million in the past three months.

The police chief assured the public of a serious crackdown on criminals, stressing that several other groups of thieves are being pursued by security forces and will be arrested in the near future.

The residents appreciated the efforts of security forces; but said that despite the arrest of a large number of criminals, the crime rate, especially armed robberies, is still high.

SeyedMobin, a resident, said unfortunately the security situation was still bad as in broad daylight, thieves snatched phones or motorcycles from people.

Bk/ma