close
Tuesday October 08, 2024

Wanted robber contests list of hardened criminals

Shahid argued that real culprits, involved in killing of police officers, were not listed, and instead, innocent people, including himself, were wrongly named

By Sher Ali Khalti
August 26, 2024
Wanted robber Shahid Lund Baloch speaks in a video message on August 24, 2024. — Screengrab via Facebook/Jam Abbas
Wanted robber Shahid Lund Baloch speaks in a video message on August 24, 2024. — Screengrab via Facebook/Jam Abbas

LAHORE: The government has announced a bounty of Rs10 million on the heads of hardened robbers.

However, in a surprising twist, one of the wanted robbers, Shahid Lund Baloch, called the official hotline to contest the reward placed on his own head.

Shahid Lund Baloch recorded a video of himself making the call to the Punjab Home Department and shared it on social media. In the video, he introduced himself to the Home Department representative, questioning the authenticity of the list that included his name.

He argued that the real culprits, involved in the killing of police officers, were not listed, and instead, innocent people, including himself, were wrongly named.

During the conversation, Shahid criticised the bounty system, asking why such large sums of money were not used to help the poor. The Home Department’s representative responded, stating that they were following orders from higher authorities and were tasked with gathering information on the named individuals.

Shahid insisted that his name and the names of other innocent people should be removed from the list, calling for a new list with the actual criminals.

The Home Department official assured Shahid that his concerns would be conveyed to the relevant authorities.

Shahid concluded the conversation by requesting the ministry to review and correct the list of wanted criminals.

Talking to The News, an official of the Home Department shared that the Home Department never mentioned that head money was fixed on the dacoits who were involved in the Machka incident rather the department had fixed head money who were notoriously hardened criminals.