DADU: Continuing a joint search operation to locate Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah’s son, Barrister Awais Shah, and his kidnappers, the police force comprising officers and personnel from Karachi, Hyderabad, Dadu and Jamshoro carried out more raids in Dadu and Jamshoro districts and rounded up 20 more suspects.

Police sources said that the number of people detained for interrogation relating to the kidnapping rose to 70 after four days of the search operation. Scores of other people detained during the house-to-house search were let off after initial interrogation.

On Sunday, raids were carried out at different places within the Kaccho area of Dadu district. The raiding teams claimed to have picked up nine suspects, besides 11 others, wanted by various police stations for their involvement in heinous crimes. They identified the alleged criminals as Anwar Brohi, Mazan Palh, Qurban Ali Shah, Pir Bukhsh Parhyar, Leemon, Channesar, Badal, Shamoo Bhand and Latif Loond, and said cases of terrorism and other heinous crimes were registered against them at various police stations in the province.

“They have a history of kidnapping for ransom, encounter with police and highway robberies,” the police said.

The search operation is being conducted under the supervision of Additional Hyderabad DIG Khadim Hussain Rind while Dadu SSP Munir Ahmed Shaikh, Jamshoro SSP retired Captain Tariq Wilayat and Sehwan ASP Rai Mazhar Iqbal are leading their respective teams.

A house-to-house search was also carried out in 15 villages along the bank of Indus, police sources said, and identified some of the villages as Jhaloo, Dano Chandio, Shaikh Gulab, Syal, Chahwan. They said raids were also conducted in the marked areas of Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Radhan.

According to SSP Shaikh, besides the house-to-house search, raids were being carried out on the basis of intelligence about presence of hardened criminals in certain areas.

He, however, conceded that the police had found not clue to Barrister Shah or his kidnappers as yet.

“We have suspended the search operation for the time being while a new strategy is being worked out to ensure a headway,” he added. Regarding hideouts of criminals, he said all such places and crime dens along the Indus banks had been destroyed to open the ‘no-go areas’ in the Kachho belt to the police and general public. “Police have now set up their pickets across the belt,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2016