HYDERABAD, Nov 23: Executive District Officer, Health, Tando Allahyar, Dr Abdul Jalil Bachani, was kidnapped by armed bandits in the Hatri area on Sunday.

The EDO along with his family members was returning to Tando Allahyar after attending a marriage ceremony in Hyderabad when bandits stopped his car and kidnapped him along with his family members.

Reports reaching here said that the members of the family and their car were abandoned near Isra university while the bandits took away Bachani in a truck.

On receipt of information about the kidnapping, the police of different districts sealed all the exit points and later an encounter took place when Nawabshah police tried to stop a truck in the jurisdiction of the district.

Mr Bachani is the brother of Pakistan People’s Party leader Abdus Sattar Bachani and brother-in-law of MNA Ms Shamshad Bachani

Our Nawabshah correspondent adds: One bandit was killed while another was injured in a police encounter on Qazi Ahmed road.

Nawabshah police intercepted a truck near Nawabshah-Daur bypass, after receiving information of kidnapping of Dr Bachani. An exchange of fire took place as a result of which two bandits were injured while others escaped.

The police took those injured to the Nawabshah Medical College Hospital where one of them identified as Wahid Bux Soomro, resident of Moro, died. The other bandit was identified as Kashmir Khan Mari, resident of Gohram Mari union council, Nawabshah. The police also recovered two Kalashnikovs from their possession.

DIG Police Hyderabad Dr Sanaullah Abbasi and DPO Hyderabad Ghulam Nabi Memon also reached Nawabshah and visited the spot and met with the injured dacoit.

DPO Nawabshah, Rukhsar Ahmed Khuhawar told journalists that a special police team was constituted for safe and immediate recovery of kidnapped doctor and raids were being conducted on the information of the arrested bandit.

The injured dacoit told police that they had handed over the kidnapped EDO to another group of bandits near Nawabshah few minutes before the encounter.

Our Larkana correspondent adds: Mohammed Soomar Khokhar, a goldsmith and Ratodero Jewellers Association president, was kidnapped from a park in the town.

Mr Khokhar had come to the park for morning walk with his friend Badar Channa. Six kidnappers forced the goldsmith to sit in a car with h=them and sped away.

Later, a large number of people blocked roads to protest against the kidnapping of Mr Khokhar. Led by Pir Bux Bhutto union council nazim Fayyaz Bhutto and raising slogans, the protesters marched on main roads of the town and staged a sit-in on the motorway, suspending vehicular traffic.

The police tried to persuade them to lift the blockade but to no avail.

Larkana DIG Commander (retd) Shoukat Shah arrived at the spot and negotiated with the protestors. They called of the protest after the DIG assured them of recovery of the kidnapped goldsmith in five days.

The DIG suspended Ratodero DSP Abdul Majeed Panhwar on the charge of negligence in duty.

Meanwhile, Sindh National Front chairman Mumtaz Bhutto arrived at the house of the kidnap victim and met with his relatives. Expressing concern over the incident, he announced that his party would hold protest demonstrations throughout Sindh if Mr Khokhar was not recovered in five days.

Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz chairman Bashir Qureshi also met the relatives of Mr Khokhar and called for his early and safe recovery.