RAHIM YAR KHAN: After a month-long lull, gangsters from the Katcha area have become active once again, kidnapping three people, including two Hindus, on Friday night in two strikes.

The dacoits abducted two Hindus, Shameer Jee and Dheema Jee, from their home in the Kalywali area, within the Bhong police jurisdiction. The assailants forcibly entered their house and took them to the katcha region.

District Police Officer Rizwan Umar Gondal promptly dispatched a team to work on their recovery.

Kabul Sukhani, the ringleader of the Sukhani Gang, who carries a bounty of Rs10 million on his head, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

Businessmen alarmed by rise in crime

Reports suggest that the dacoits released a video of the hostages, demanding the release of an accomplice currently in police custody. The gang has made the release of the hostages conditional on their accomplice’s freedom, threatening to kill the captives if their demands are not met.

Another person, Saleem Niazi, was kidnapped on Friday night near Masoo Mor in the Muradpur area, which falls under the Machka police. The suspects opened fire and injured a motorcyclist also near Adam Sahaba in Sadiqabad, fleeing with his bike. The injured man was later shifted to a hospital by Rescue 1122.

Three days back, two people from Municipal Colony Sadiqabad, Asif and Bilal, had gone missing and believed to be held at a dacoit hideout in the Khair Muhammad Jhuk area near the Indus River.

A police spokesperson confirmed that a first information report under Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code had been registered at Bhong Police Station on Saturday concerning the abduction of Bheema Jee and Shameer Jee.

Over the past 30 days, 12 people have been abducted from different parts of Rahim Yar Khan, leaving citizens, businessmen, and politicians alarmed by the rise in kidnappings for ransom. The katcha dacoits are now using honey trap and direct abduction strategies from roads and residential areas.

According to reports, 12 people were kidnapped within the limits of the Sadiqabad police circle in the last month, but only four hostages have been recovered by the police so far. One abductee was killed after ransom demands were not met, while seven people, including two Hindus, remain in captivity.

Meanwhile, President of Rahim Yar Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Iqbal Hafeez, expressed his concern in a video statement, saying that the law and order situation in the district is deteriorating rapidly. He condemned the growing threat of extortion by the dacoits, saying that it is the state’s responsibility to ensure a safe environment for traders and industrialists. Hafeez claimed that half of the industrialists who had moved to the RYK Industrial Estate from Karachi and other regions, have now left due to the rising insecurity.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2024