HYDERABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has announced giving ‘special katcha allowance’ to the policemen working in Riverine Area (katcha area) against the dacoits and would strengthen them further by constructing their police pickets. “I would also give other rewards to the police if the people, including Irfan Soomro kidnapped from Kashmore, recover from the clutches of dacoits within the next week.”
This he said while addressing a press conference just after presiding over a law & order meeting here at SSP Office on Sunday. He was accompanied by provincial ministers, Shabir Bijarani, Mukesh Chawla, Jam Khan Shoro, Advisor to CM Aijaz Khan Jakhrani, and IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon.
The CM said that he has chaired a meeting on law & order at the SSP office where IG Police has given me a detailed briefing about all the districts of katcha area where dacoits have created a law & order situation. Shah said that when PPP had taken over in Sindh 2008 no highway was safe even during the daytime. “Our government restored the writ of the government and eliminated the dacoits’ factor,” he said and added again the dacoits have challenged the government and we would crush them shortly. Shah said that the IG Police told him that some gangs of dacoits were active in Kashmore district and they were using most sensitive weapons.
The CM said that IGF Police told him that the notorious gang of Janu Indar and Soomar Shar has been eliminated on July 27, 2023. They were involved in the killing of police in District Ghotki and Kashmore and started a new wave of extortion and kidnapping for ransom. The police recovered a big Cache of Weaponry from them and recovered eight abductees who were kidnapped for ransom.
The CM said that he has directed the IG Police to send the recovered sensitive weapons for forensic test so that it could be ascertained from where they were bringing the weapons which were even not available with the police.
The CM told the media that during briefing the IG Police told him that 10 persons were still in the possession of the dacoits. They include Farhan Ali Soomro, Jagdesh Kumar, Jai Deep Kumar, Sadaqat Hajano, Maqbool Mirani, Dr Munir Naich, Rehman Jaferi, Ahmad Alio Punjabi, Waqas Ahmad and Asghar Bhatti were in the possession of the dacoits. “I have given seven days to the police to recover the kidnapped persons and I am sure our police were capable enough to recover them.
Establishment of Police pickets: Murad Ali Shah said that the police have established police pickets in the katcha area, therefore the phenomenal of honey trap cases has dropped considerably and the supply of arms to dacoits has been cut. “I have decided to construct the pickets so that permanent bases could be developed to supervise and contain the movement of the criminals along with providing logistics support to police during the operation.
The CM said that the Ghotki district is spread over an area of 6083 sq km, of which 25 percent or 1520 km katcha area. The district has a forest area of 29859.9 acres, including 25 km Rounti Forest and 15 km Jahanpur Forest. Shah said that 100 police pickets have been established in the Rounti area and they would be constructed permanently.
Murad Shah told the media that the Ghotki police have recovered 70 kidnapees, killed 52 dacoits, rounded up 85 facilitators, 110 other criminals, and 40 persons saved from kidnapping. He added that right now there was no person in the clutches of the dacoits.
Ghotki-Kandhkot Bridge: Talking construction of the bridge, the CM said that the work on the 35 km project, including the 12 km bridge, was started in 2020. “But, the work was stopped recently when the dacoits kidnapped a few laborers working on the project,” he said and added now the security has been strengthened further so that work could be completed at the earliest. Shah said that with the construction of the bridge the area would open up and the dacoits’ factor would come to an end.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced that another strategic bridge on the River Indus would also be constructed to handle such threats.
Earlier, the Chief Minister landed in Sukkur on Sunday morning and went to the Katcha area of Mirpur Mathelo and visited police pickets, and met with policemen on duty. He appreciated their dedication Flood situation: The Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shahs visited the Raunti Bund near Mirpur Mathelo on the left bank of Indus 28 km downstream of Guddu Barrage and 88 km upstream of the Sukkur Barrage. The purpose of the visit of the CM was to check the sensitivity of flood embankments and the preparedness so far made to combat the current year’s flood anticipated by the NDMA & PDMA.
Thereafter the CM Sindh visited the Guddu Barrage and monitored the situation of maximum flow passing through the Guddu Barrage. The flow passing through the barrage was 467,457 cusecs on 30 July 2023. Later, the CM went to Dari village where he offered condolence to MPA Abdi Sundrani over the death of his cousin. On the last leg of his visit, he drove to Jacobabad where he offered condolences with Aslam Abro over the death of his brother and nephew.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023