IG claims activities of dacoits ‘contained’

The Sindh IG Ghulam Nabi Memon has claimed that the menace of killings and kidnappings by dacoits has been reduced to just one district - Kashmore Kandhkot in Larkana division.

He made this claim while talking to the media in Naudero, Larkana, on Sunday after expressing condolence with the family of a policeman killed by dacoits.

Though he claimed containing activities of robbers to Larkana only, two policemen were kidnapped in Jacobabad district on Saturday night and videos of hostages were released from other districts in Sukkur division as well.

IG Memon took exception to the media's criticism of the police and invited the journalists to meet the policemen carrying out operations against the dacoits in the riverine forests to witness their high spirits. "I am surprised to see this criticism even though the results of a drop in the crime rate are before you," he said.

According to him, the incidents of kidnappings have reduced in many districts of Sindh. He contended that the problem of dacoits and their crimes has been existing in Sukkur and Larkana divisions for at least four decades.

"This is a 40 years old problem which will take time to go away." The IG claimed that 18 dacoits have been killed in the last three months and 40 others have been arrested in injured condition. He said the police did not make shallow claims, rather the slain or injured dacoits are shown to the media to testify the claims.

Referring to the killings of the cops during the operations against the dacoits, he said if the police were not taking genuine action against the outlaws their personnel would not have paid with their lives. The IG expressed hope that the ongoing operation in the riverine forest will soon show results.

Policemen kidnapped

Days after martyring six policemen from Balochistan in Jacobabad, a group of dacoits kidnapped two personnel of Sindh police from Khalid Nawaz check post in the limits of Mouladad police station. The outlaws later released a video showing both the hostages Shamsuddin Khoso and Noor Nabi Bhatti being humiliated.

In their message, the dacoits belonging to the Jakhrani tribe blamed the police for detaining dozens of their women after razing and burning their homes. According to SSP Jacobabad Sumair Noor, the armed men of Mithu Shah gang and Jakhranis in a joint attack on the police post past Saturday midnight kidnapped the two cops. He said the assailants fired gunshots on the post. In their vide message, they denied kidnapping Farooq Soomro for whose recovery the police launched the operation. They warned that if their detained women and men are not released, they will kill the cops.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2023.