KARACHI: Caretaker governments of Sindh and Punjab on Thursday chalked out their strategy to attack dacoits in the riverine (kutcha) areas of both the provinces simultaneously using latest technologies to eliminate the menace once and for all.

A spokesman for the Sindh CM House said that Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar and his Punjab counterpart Mohsin Naqvi along with their respective chief secretaries and provincial police chiefs held a brainstorming session to finalise the strategy for launching a joint operation against bandits in the kutcha area of both provinces.

Mohsin Naqvi along with his Information Minister Amir Mir, Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman and IGP Usman Anwar called on Justice Baqar, who was accompanied by his Home Minister retired Brig Haris Nawaz, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam and IGP Riffat Mukhtar, and discussed with them the upcoming joint clean-up operation against the dacoits.

The two chief ministers discussed the gangs involved in the kidnapping for ransom, their overall strength, positions and hideouts in the thick forests along the banks of River Indus and exchanged notes on how to attack them from both sides - Sindh and Punjab - and eliminate them once and for all by removing the stigma.

Justice Baqar told Mr Naqvi that he had visited Sukkur and Ghotki and stayed there for two days to finalise the operation against dacoits. “I have given blanket approval to the police to start necessary procurement and coordinate with the Punjab police to start the operation.

Advanced technology to be employed to eliminate gangs in Rajanpur, upper Sindh

Mr Naqvi said that the purpose of the meeting was to sit together to finalise the operation strategy, further, the police of both provinces would work together to eliminate the menace.

The Punjab IGP briefing the meeting said that the main kutcha area fell in the area of district Rajanpur, but the kutcha areas of Ghotki and Kandhkot-Kashmore districts also adjoin Rahim Yar Khan, adding that the main riverine area was 176km long and 25km wide.

He said that lands were highly fertile along the River Indus where sugar cane was cultivated.

Justice Baqar was told that there were seven islands in Rajanpur which affected Rahim Yar Khan as well. These islands are Kutcha Karachi, Kutcha Umrani, Kutcha Hyderabad, Kutcha Bannu, Kutcha Morrom, Kutcha Jamal and Kutcha Kupra.

Mr Naqvi said that the Kutcha Raunti of Ghotki district and Kutcha Gehalpur of Kandhkot-Kashmore district affected Rahim Yar Khan.

The Punjab police chief said that there was a symbiotic relationship between gangs in the two provinces.

He added that there were five gangs in Rajanpur and 11 in Kandhkot-Kashmore and Ghotki districts identified through the sharing of an information system established between the two provinces.

Mr Naqvi said that the 11 gangs of dacoits had hardly 600 members and they could not be allowed to challenge the writ of the government, therefore a joint operation was inevitable.

He added that the Punjab police had set up nine police camps and 53 police pickets which would support the attack on dacoits.

The Sindh IGP briefing the two chief ministers said that his force had started frequent raids against the criminals. “We have established 210 police posts along the protective bund in the katcha area,” he said, and shared a detailed equipment list with the Punjab chief minister for launching an operation.

CM Baqar said that he had got a control room established at Kashmore and Shikarpur.

The two chief ministers in consultation with their respective teams prepared the checklist of the equipment, gadgets, mobile jammers and call interceptors, as well as deployment of police and Rangers plan to launch the simultaneous offensive. Justice Baqar said that facilitators and informers of dacoits had already been nabbed so as to check their any attempt to leak information about the operation.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023