Sindh, Punjab finalise plan for joint operation against dacoits

The caretaker chief ministers of Sindh and Punjab held a long brainstorming session at the CM House in Karachi on Thursday, along with the provinces’ respective chief secretaries and police chiefs, to finalise a strategy to launch a joint operation against dacoits in the riverine areas on both sides.

Punjab interim CM Mohsin Naqvi, information minister Amir Mir, CS Zahid Akhtar Zaman and IGP Usman Anwar called on Sindh caretaker CM Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar, who was accompanied by home minister Brig. (retd) Haris Nawaz, CS Dr Fakhre Alam and IGP Riffat Mukhtar.

The interim CMs discussed the gangs involved in ransom kidnappings, and their overall strength, positions and hideouts in the thick forests along the River Indus, exchanging notes on how to attack them from both sides to eliminate them once and for all.

Baqar said he had visited Sukkur and Ghotki, and stayed there for two days to finalise the operation against dacoits. “I have given a blanket approval to the police to start the necessary procurement and coordinate with the Punjab police to start the operation.”

Naqvi said that the purpose of the meeting was to sit together to finalise the operational strategy allowing the police of both provinces to work together to eliminate the menace of dacoits.

IGP Anwar said that the main Kutcha Area falls in District Rajanpur, but the Kutcha areas of Ghotki and Kashmore also adjoin Rahim Yar Khan’s Machka and Kot Sabzal police jurisdictions. The length of this area is 176km and the width is 25km, he added.

He said the lands are highly fertile along the River Indus where sugar cane crop is planted, adding that there are seven troubled areas in Rajanpur that affect Rahim Yar Khan as well: Kutcha Karachi, Kutcha Umrani, Kutcha Hyderabad, Kutchi Bannu, Kutchi Morro, Kutcha Jamal and Kutchi Kupra.

Naqvi said Kutcha Ronti of Ghotki and Kutcha Gehalpur of Kashmore affect Rahim Yar Khan. Anwar said that there is a symbiotic relationship between the gangs of the two provinces.

He said that five gangs in Rajanpur, and 11 gangs in Kashmore and Ghotki have been identified through the system of information-sharing established between the two provinces.

Naqvi said that the 11 gangs hardly have 600 members, and they cannot be allowed to challenge the government’s writ, so a joint operation is inevitable. He said the Punjab police have set up nine police camps and 53 police pickets, which would support the attack on the dacoits.

IGP Mukhtar said the Sindh police have started frequent raids against the criminals. “We have established 210 police posts along the protective Bund in the Kutcha area.”

He also shared a detailed equipment list with Naqvi for launching an operation. Baqar said he has established a control room each in Kashmore and Shikarpur.

The caretaker CMs, in consultation with their respective teams, prepared a checklist of mobile jammers, call interceptors, and other gadgets and equipment. They also devised a plan for deploying police and Rangers so that the operation can be started simultaneously from both sides, attacking the dacoits using the latest technologies.

Baqar said the facilitators and informers of the dacoits have already been arrested, so the operation can be started without any of the information being leaked to the criminals.