Capacity of riverine police to be strengthened

As the weather becomes harsher, Punjab Police have been bolstering their Riverine Police's patrolling to prevent gangs of dacoits from setting up their hideouts in the riverine areas.

They are also using a mobile phone app, E-police, to monitor the police measures against the gangs of dacoits in the Kacha areas.

Punjab Highways Patrolling Police (PHP) DIG Sadiq Ali Dogar held a video link meeting on professional affairs of Riverine Police at the Central Police Office and asked for an increase in patrolling hours and teams in the Kacha area.

The Kacha area, the riverine areas of the River Indus in Punjab and Sindh, has been in the news for so many years, and not for the good reasons for that matter. Kidnappings for ransom by dacoits, hosting of criminals, robbers, hardcore criminals and police officials’ deaths during operations to dismantle their hideouts have been some of the factors behind the notoriety of the Kacha area. 

Last year, the dacoit gangs of Kacha area came under the spotlight of the national and international media after a couple of them shared a video of chopping off of limbs of a kidnapped person in their custody in South Punjab.

In the last few months, they came under spotlight for a large number of cases of abduction for ransom and subsequent death of cops and dacoits in police operations.

It is a difficult terrain alongside the river where permanent infrastructure building is next to impossible as the mighty Indus keeps on changing its course. The place is included as its bed. When there are floods or heavy torrential rains, the area is filled with water and in winter it subsides. As the water rises and subsides in the kacha area, it also reshapes its landscape. The plain ground of last year turns into a swampy land after the monsoon spell the following year.

The dacoit gangs would exploit this cycle of the seasons for their objectives. As the weather turned harsh and the mobility/camping of the law-enforcement agencies became difficult, they would use it to either shift from one place to another or set up their camps.  As the water subsided, they would shift their camps in winters to construct new hideouts.

As the terrain is difficult and based on old structures, police high command faced difficulties in playing their supervisory role. For example, paying a surprise visit by a cop was tantamount to putting his life at stake.

Taking into consideration the reports and trends of Kacha, dacoits as well police officials, Deputy Inspector General of Patrolling Police Punjab, Sadiq Ali Dogar, said that patrolling teams and hours should be increased to prevent crimes in the districts adjacent to the River Indus in different districts across the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2022.