A day after dacoits ambushed the Ghotki police, killing one and injuring eight others, the police pursuit of the assailants is yet to make any headway.
The Ranoti police station, in whose limits the incident happened on Friday, lodged an FIR on the state's complaint, nominating 34 accused persons besides 10 unknown attackers. The case was filed on the complaint on Ranoti SHO Fida Hussain Dahiri under Sections 47, 148, 302, 324 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. According to the FIR, the assailants were armed with rocket launchers and automatic weapons.
The dacoits had reportedly kidnapped two men from Bori village two weeks earlier. When a police contingent, comprising over 100 officials, 15 police mobiles and two armoured personnel carriers (APCs) entered the area, they were ambushed, leading to one policeman being killed while eight others and a villager were arrested.
The deceased police official, Khan Muhammad Panhwar, was laid to rest in Ghotki. Sukkur DIG Fida Hussain Mastoi vowed to avenge his death while talking to the media after attending the funeral prayers.
Meanwhile, the police continued their operation in the riverbed area on Saturday calling reinforcements and more APCs from Sukkur, Khairpur and Kashmore-Kandhkot districts.
While the police regained control of the picket taken over by the dacoits after they forcefully evicted the law enforcers, they failed to arrest even a single of the nominated accused by Saturday evening.
SSP Dr Farrukh Ali Lanjar told the local media that the dacoits had escaped from their hideouts, adding that the police were manning the areas bordering the Ranoti riverbed region.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2020.
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