PPP MNA calls for army operation to purge kacha of dacoits

A politically influential MNA of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Makhdoom Jameeluz Zaman from Matiari district, has urged the Army Chief Gen Asim Munir to launch a military operation to eradicate dacoits of the riverine and forest areas.

Talking to the media at the shrine of Hazrat Makhdoom Sarwar Nooh in Hala, Matiari, on Sunday Zaman believed that the police and the Rangers have failed to defeat the menace of dacoits in Sukkur and Larkana divisions.

The demand seems to be a departure from the PPP's stance which, hitherto, has been trying to tackle the spreading tentacles of the bandits with the help of the police which has time and again conceded that their weapons are no match to those used by the dacoits.

Zaman said it is saddening to see how the people are being kidnapped and their families are being made to suffer the pain for recovery of their loved ones.

Sindh govt procures weapons from Turkey

Meanwhile, at a press conference in Kashmore-Kandhkot district on Sunday the Inspector General Sindh Police Ghulam Nabi Memon told that the provincial government has released funds for procurement of weapons for the police force. According to him, they have started to receive consignments of those weapons with the last of those supplies expected to arrive from Turkey in around two weeks.

The IG recalled that the ongoing wave of kidnappings started in 2015 when the bandits employed honey traps to catch the victims. "The victims were lured with cheaper cars, livestock animals, marriage proposals, etc."

The IGP claimed that the provincial police force saved 529 people from being lured in such traps during the last three months. He added that the Sindh police have a complete list of such people who were timely saved.

Echoing the stance of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the IGP said tribal clashes in the province are contributing to the rise of crimes. Memon said the tribal chiefs and notable people of such flashpoints should also play their part to end the clashes.

He maintained that the police have never stopped taking action against the dacoits in order to recover the kidnapped people. He pointed out that the martyrdom of several cops during operations against the bandits testifies that fact. Earlier, the IGP chaired a meeting of the police officials of Larkana division in Kashmore-Kandhkot.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2024.