CM Sindh directs operation clean-up in riverine areas

KARACHI/ SUKKUR: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that a well-planned operation clean-up was being launched against dacoits and their abettors in the riverine areas of districts Shikarpur, Kashmore, Kandhkot and Ghotki, which will continue till the elimination of criminals. He said that if police needed any assistance from the paramilitary forces, then they will engage them in the ongoing operation.

The Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, was talking to the media on Wednesday after reviewing the law and order situation of the Katcha area at the office of the SSP Shikarpur.

Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Maher, Regional Police Officer Kamran Fazal, Commissioner Larkana, Commissioner Sukkur, DIG Larkana Nasir Aftab, SSP Shikarpur Ameer Saud Magsi, SSP Kashmore Amjad Shaikh, SSP Larkana Imran Qureshi and other senior police officers attended the meeting.

The CM’s visit coincided with a tragic anti-dacoit operation in the area which brought the alarming law and order situation of the riverine areas of Sindh into limelight, prompting the prime minister to dispatch interior minister to review the situation and meet the Rangers and police high-ups.

To a question about the visit of the Interior Minister Sh Rashid Ahmad on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan to take stock of the law and order situation, the CM said: “He is most welcome to visit the province. However, I have so far received no official intimation of his visit and read about the visit on twitter and in the press.”

Responding to a question, Syed Murad Ali Shah claimed that law and order was worse in 2008 when no highway was safe in the province and people used to travel in police convoys. He added the Sindh government of PPP had launched several operations against the dacoits and highway robbers and normalised the situation. Terming the situation as comparatively better, Shah added a few riverine areas have some problems where dacoits have established their hideouts and the government was committed to eliminating them.

Earlier, in the law and order meeting, the chief minister was told that the Katcha belt of Shikarpur district has the areas of Garhi Tego and Bachal Bhayo, spreading over 149,000 acres where nine police stations, including Naper Kot, Kot Shahoo, Bachal Bhayo, Abad Millani, Jhali Kalwari, Tajo Dero, Jhabbir Shaikh, 20-Mile and Jamalpur were functional. The chief minister directed commissioner Larkana to identify the villages of Katcha where roads needed to be constructed. “With the development of infrastructure, the area would open up automatically,” he said.

The CM was briefed on different gangs of bandits such as Belo Teghani, Khair Mohammad Khairo, Jhangal Teghani and Mahar Jatoi, who along with their accomplices were involved in kidnapping for ransom, killings and murders, road robberies and extortion. The CM directed the police to set up base camps in sensitive areas and carry out action to de-weaponze the criminals and force them to surrender. The chief minister directed the Inspector General of Police to prepare a combat force for a final and decisive operation against the criminal elements. He also directed patrolling in the problematic areas. Shah directed the police to keep the sensitive areas cordoned off, so the dacoits and their facilitators could not escape.

Regarding the tragic police operation of last week, the CM was told that the operation was conducted to recover six kidnapped persons from the clutches of bandits. As many as six APCs were used in the operation during which one of the APCs was hit by a rocket and immobilized and was indiscriminately attacked by the dacoits, leaving three policemen and photojournalist Haseeb Shaikh dead, while eight cops were injured, including one inspector. However, despite the losses, the police not only recovered six hostages from the dacoits safely but also killed six dacoits and recovered arms and ammunition, including 12.7mm guns, RPG-7 rockets, hand grenades, a number of G-3 rifles, Kalashnikov rifles and a large number of bullets.

Earlier, the chief minister met the families of constables Munawar Jatoi, Barkat Hussain and Khalid Hussain, who fell martyr in the operation and offered condolences to their families. CM Murad also met with the children of Shaheed constables and promised full government support, including educational, salaries of the deceased, besides compensation and government jobs. Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also went to the residence of Shaheed photographer Haseeb Shaikh and offered condolences to his father, Safdar Shaikh.

Meanwhile, police recovered two hostages during a large-scale operation in the riverine area of Garhi Tegho, Shikarpur, following the killings of three policemen and a photojournalist last week, which created a stir at the national level.

According to SSP Shikarpur Captain (retd) Ameer Saud Magsi, the operation is being led and monitored by Addl IGP Sukkur Dr. Kamran Fazal and DIGP Larkana Nasir Aftab Pathan. During the operation, two hostages Anwar Ali and Abdul Hafeez Bijarani were freed from the custody of dacoits, which also left two dacoits injured. The SSP Shikarpur said fully-equipped police commandos from Karachi had joined the operation.

SSP Magsi said the police operation against the criminals was continuing and was expanded to the entire area. In the aftermath of the tragic deaths of policemen and photojournalist, the Teghani tribal chief Sardar Tegho Khan Teghani, along with his two sons Imran and Abdul Fatah, was arrested from Karachi for aiding and abetting the dacoits and an FIR was registered against them. He claimed of sealing the exit and entrance routes to the area, and added that drone surveillance was being used to pinpoint movement of criminals.