SUKKUR: More than eight armed gangsters abducted a Hindu youth when he was returning home along with his family of singers after performing kirtan (religious chant) in a Diwali programme held at Badani Gurudwara Sahib in Kandhkot.

With roots in the Vedic tradition, a kirtan is a call-and-response or antiphonal style song or chant, set to music, wherein multiple singers recite the names of a deity, describe a legend, express loving devotion to a deity, or discuss spiritual ideas.

According to reports reaching here, the criminals were out on a looting spree at a section of the Kashmore Indus Highway near Ranu Stop within the limits of the Bakhshapur police station in Kandhkot at around 8am the other day. They were snatching cash and valuables form passengers of the vehicles passing through the spot.

Meanwhile, they intercepted a car carrying the singers’ family and after holding them hostage at gunpoint, snatched cash, mobile phones and other valuables from them, kidnapped Wikram Kumar and fled.

Occupants of the car included Lashman Das, his son Wikram, and two young daughters Nakita Kumari and Anmol Kum­ari, residents of Salehpat in Sukkur district.

The Hindu family and victim passengers of other vehicles, along with local people, staged a demonstration and blocked the road in protest against the crime committed in broad daylight without any fear of police.

The enraged protesters kept the road blocked for almost two hours, creating a traffic jam on both sides of the highway.

The DSP, along with other police officials, reached the spot and persuaded the demonstrators to end the protest. They dispersed when the police held out assurance to them that the hostage would be recovered and action against the alleged outlaws to be taken.

Later, Nakita Kumari, who witnessed kidnapping of her brother, narrated the whole episode while crying before the local media persons.

She said that when they reached at pucca area, after crossing the katcha area, the armed gangsters intercepted them at Ranu Stop and held them hostage at gunpoint.

The armed man, she said, asked her father to get down from the car or they would kill him. She said she clung on to the father and appealed to the gangsters to leave him and other family members and take whatever they needed, she said.

She added that the gangsters also subjected her brother and the driver to sever torture.

She said: “We the people minority have no freedom here as daughters are held hostage at gunpoint and men are kidnaped in broad daylight.”

Ms Kumari has appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari to pay attention towards the unrest in Sindh as dacoits had established their rule there and no one was safe anymore.

DIG meets victim family in Kandhkot Larkana Range DIG Nasir Aftab reached Kandkot and met with the Wikram Kumar’s family and Kumari narrated the episode again.

The officer promised to get their brother rescued from the clutches of the gangsters.

Meanwhile, the DIG Larkana went away without talking to the media persons who were waiting to ask him about the law and order situation in the region.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2024