LAHORE:Elimination of criminal gangs and maintaining law and order in the province is a responsibility of Punjab Police, said Adnan Shahzad Khan, Additional Secretary Police, Punjab Home department, while taking to The News.
Heinous crimes, including kidnapping for ransom, robbery, murder, attempt to murders, rape etc have increased in tribal areas of Dera Ghazi Khan. Hardened criminals of Ladi/ Chakrani gangs are active in DG Khan. Neither Punjab Police nor Border Military Police could rein them.
On a query by this scribe that why these gangs could not be eliminated, Punjab Police claimed that Ladi gangs after doing criminal activities take shelter in jurisdiction of BMP, in mountainous areas.
The News contacted RPO DG Khan but he did not pick up the phone calls. Dera Ghazi Khan DPO Lt (R) Ahmed Mohiyudin said he cannot talk as he is busy in a meeting. While Zia Mustafa, the spokesperson to DPO DG Khan, said that DG Khan police cannot raid in BMP areas because it is a matter of jurisdiction. He shared that DG Khan Police killed four criminals belonged to Mareeri gang and this gang had alliance with Ladi gang. DG Khan police cannot take action in the tribal area which is a jurisdiction of BMP, he added.
Adnan Shahzad rejected the issue of jurisdiction and said it was the responsibility of Punjab police to maintain law and order and eliminate the hardened criminals in BMP’s areas. BMP is there to stop infiltration at provincial border areas. He shared that BMP has limited domain and powers with limited resources; they cannot eliminate gangs equipped with sophisticated weapons. The BMP’s building are old, they are not trained to coup with hardened criminals, additionally for many years recruitment was not done. The BMP officials are too old to counter gangs. He added that the government had provided the facilities to the Punjab police to eliminate criminals over there. The government has approved PC one, joint check post are being established over there. The government has approved billions of rupees for Punjab police.
BMP and gangs operating over there believe in coexistence. According to the local people, some tummans (alliances of clans including Baloch and non-Baloch) Khosa, Buzdar etc blackmail the administrations of cement factories to get financial benefits. When operations are held the gangs hide on mountains in tribal areas of DG Khan.
The Chakrani known as Ladi and other gangs are very active in the surroundings areas of DG Khan cement factory. Criminal activities like extortion, dacoities, vehicle snatching and abductions for ransom are very common in the area.
On 27 January, 2024, the criminals of Chakrani Gang headed by Usman Dhora had kidnapped 18-year-old Ali Imran, son of Imranul Haq Qureshi, Assistant General Manager (Electrical) of DG Khan cement factory from Factory Road, DG Khan. The criminals also took away company owned car.
Ali Imran was coming from DG Khan city to factory site along with driver. When he reached near Sabu Basti location,4-5 armed criminals blocked the road, kidnapped the boy along with car after releasing the driver and fled towards Darah Safaidoo Tribal Area. Two hours after abduction the criminals rang up to the parents of the abductee and demanded Rs30 million for his release. Efforts were made for release of the abductee with the help of Law Enforcement Agencies, District Administration and notables of the area. The criminals reduced the ransom amount to Rs10 million after lot of pursuance.
On 29 January, 2024, the abductee Ali Imran was released by the kidnapers after payment of ransom. Company owned car was also recovered from the criminals. In the recent past, the gang damaged two of the company vehicles adjacent to the Quarry Area and kidnaped three mining engineers who were released after six days after payment of ransom. The criminals were also involved in firing on the security posts in Quarry Area, burning of Long Belt Conveyers and causing damage to 132 KV Power Transmission Line with gunfire.
On 23 January, 2024, Chakrani gang kidnapped for ransom a local Muhammad Tahir from Basti Jattani and released him on 27 January, 2024, after obtaining ransom amount of Rs500,000.
On 28 December, 2023, 12 miscreants of Chakrani Gang robbed the spectators of tractor race near Basti Nammela. They cordoned off the area, resorted to firing injuring one local, created fear and panic. They snatched 10 bikes,30 mobile phones and cash from the spectators and fled from the scene.
On 25 November, 2023, 12 dacoits of Chakrani Gang snatched two loaders with operators of contractors from the vicinity of Quarry Area of a cement company and took them in the Tribal Area. Later, they released the operators and obtained Rs5.9 million for release of the loaders.
