Dacoits take cops prisoners in police station raid

Dacoits attacked a police station in riverine area of the Shikarpur district and took five policemen, including the station house officer prisoner.

The blitz on the Kot Shahu police station in the katcha area of Shikarpur left the Sindh government red faced. Caretaker CM Maqbool Baqar said it was embarrassing that police were not safe in the police stations.

Heavily armed dacoits barged into the police station and hauled away all the cops including SHO Mehboob Brohi.

Shikarpur district police chief SSP Khalid Mustafa Korai in his statement to the media has assured of early recovery of the kidnaped policemen. Korai said police and Rangers were going after the kidnappers in the katcha area.

CM Baqar has however expressed dismay over the performance of senior police officers. "There are reports that SSPs do not got to their offices in rural and work remotely from the comfort of their homes," the interim CM said in a statement issued from the highly fortified CM House.

As per the statement, Baqar taking serious note of the kidnapping of six policemen, including the SHO of Kot Shahu police station of Shikarpur district has ordered their recovery within three days and issuing of explanation to the DIG and SSP concerned. The CM expressing his displeasure and dismay said that the police stations have been made so vulnerable and weak that the dacoits attack them and kidnap policemen easily.

"This shows that the police officers who are in command in the districts have failed to control, deliver, and perform," he said and added that he has learned that most of the SSPs did not go to their offices and do the policing sitting at their houses that was why such a shocking situation has emerged.

Justice Baqar talked to the IG police on the telephone and directed him to visit the Shikarpur district and get the kidnapped policemen recovered within three days. "I want you [IG police] to issue explanations to the DIG Larkana and SSP Shikarpur for their failure to strengthen the police station and secure the police."

The interim CM said that inefficient, ineffective, and unwilling police officers must be replaced with efficient officers. "I am sorry to say that such incidents were earning a bad name for the government and governance. The CM also directed the IG Police to conduct an inquiry into the incident and report him.

Funding education

Separately, CM Baqar presiding over a joint meeting of school and college education departments approved a release of Rs1 billion for the printing of textbooks and simultaneously directed the college department to develop a digital monitoring system of all the colleges to ensure lecturers attendance and teaching activities.

Secretary School Education Shireen Narejo, to a question, told the CM that 80 per cent of the students at government schools have received free textbooks. At this, the CM expressed his displeasure and said that it meant that 20 per cent of the students were studying without textbooks which was unacceptable.

Secretary of College Education Sadaf Anees briefing the CM said that she was developing a monitoring and inspection system in all the colleges.

Baqar directed the secretary education to collect data on the chronically absent lecturers and forward their cases to the FIA through him so that their expulsion from the job could be ensured but recoveries of the salaries they have drawn for the absent period could be retrieved.

Forest land

Meanwhile presiding over a meeting at CM House CM Baqar directed the Forest & Wildlife Department to start GIS mapping of Khirthar National Park land, cancel illegal allotments and retrieve illegally occupied forest land.

Secretary Forest and Wildlife Najam Shah briefing the CM said that the province has 3.4 million acres of forest land.

To a question, Najam Shah told the CM that out of 232,205.7 acres of encroached forest land 191,175.2 acres have been retrieved and still 41,030.5 acres were under encroachment. The CM was told that 34,713.05 acres of forest land were illegally allotted, of which 21,274.56 acres have been canceled. The CM directed the Forest dept to cancel the remaining illegal allotment of 13,438.49 acres and report him.

Baqar directed the wildlife department to demarcate Kirthar National Park from Karachi to Dadu with barbed wire and make its GIS Mapping.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2023.