LARKANA/HYDERABAD: A tense situation prevails at and around the residence of Home Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal here since Friday, when Rangers personnel made deployment in the neighbourhood and started snap-checking hours after the dramatic escape of Asad Kharal, said to be a close associate of the Siyal family, from the custody of law-enforcers late on Wednesday evening.

Rangers personnel stayed on very close to the minister’s residence in the Fatehpur area and kept an eye on people passing by or driving by for the next 24 hours but later they scaled down their activity to intermittent patrolling in the area, though a combing up operation was extended to nearby villages on Sunday.

Reliable sources said that arrests had been made during the joint operation carried out by police and Rangers personnel but there were conflicting reports about how many suspects had been taken away by the Rangers.

Sources in police said that Sultan Abro, said to be a close associate of Asad Kharal, along with 20 other members of the Abro community, was picked up for interrogation into Kharal’s escape and his alleged involvement in some kidnap cases as well as corruption involving around Rs500 million. All of them were picked up in Pathan Abro village, not far from the home minister’s Larkana residence.

It is gathered that Sultan Abro allegedly leads his gang of criminals that operates in a vast area of Sindh. The gang’s activities included kidnapping for ransom, murder, highway robbery and extortion. A rocket launcher, some automatic weapons and ammunition were seized from Sultan and some of his associates.

The picked up suspects, according to sources, included Mohammed, Liaquat, Luqman, Shabbir, Aitebar, Ameer, Nazeer, Sikandar, Faqeer and Aijaz. They said the suspects were kept at an undisclosed location by the Rangers.

Mumtaz wants probe against home minister

HYDERABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Mumtaz Ali Bhutto has called for an inquiry into the alleged involvement of the home minister and his brother in certain criminal activities.

He was speaking to journalists after attending an Eid Milan party organised by his party colleague, Mohammad Ayub Shar, in Qasimabad on Saturday evening.

He said that ‘big fish’ left Pakistan after plundering the exchequer. He said that plundered wealth should be recovered from them. He said that Sindh was faced with a flood situation and the provincial government had just awakened. “They want to see Sindh inundated,” he added.

Mr Bhutto said that Pakistan needed transparent general elections under the army’s supervision. He said that if someone did not come forward to save Pakistan and bring corrupt elements to book, then the country was bound to face destruction.

He said that Pakistan had already paid a heavy price for the Sharif-Zardari politics of reconciliation. “Both the leaders have pledged to defend each other,” he said. He observed that the Zardari government had faced the ‘memogate’ scandal and now the Nawaz government was facing ‘Panamagate’ scam.

Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz leader Dr Niaz Kalani, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Zulfikar Halepoto, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Mohammad Azam Jehangir, Jamaat-i-Islami leader Abdul Waheed Qureshi, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional leader Afzal Gujjar and others also attended the party.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2016