Punjab IGP, Addl Inspector General South Punjab, AIG CTD, AIG Special Branch, DIG IT, RPO Bahawalpur, RPO DG Khan, DIG R&D, DPO RYK, DPO Rajanpur, RO Special Branch attend meeting.

RAHIM YAR KHAN    -    No significant announcement was made to eliminate and counter the criminals of Katcha area in a meeting of Punjab Po­lice high-ups here on Sunday.

Media was neither invited nor briefed about the future strate­gy over dacoit gangs. The police high ups could not evolve any strategy to contain the criminal elements. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar, Additional Inspector General (AIG) South Punjab Maqsood Ul Hassan, AIG CTD Wasim Sial, AIG Special Branch Zulfiqar Ha­meed, DIG IT Ahsan Younus, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Bahawalpur Babar Saeed, RPO Dera Ghazi Khan Sajjad Has­san, DIG R&D Zeeshan Asghar, District Police Officer (DPO) RYK Rizwan Umar Gondal, DPO Rajanpur Nasir Ali Sial, RO Spe­cial Branch Habib Ul-lah and RO CTD Shams Khan with vari­ous ASPs and DSPs attended the emergency meeting. 

According to the residents of Kacha areas, kidnapping for ran­som, network of “Honey Trap” for dis-torting money from innocent people, the attraction of cheap cars and tractors to citizens, in­viting different art-ists includ­ing drum beaters to take them hostage for money and later the use of social media to show the sen-sitive videos to the relatives of kidnapped persons were con­tinuing for last two years in the riverbed area of Indus along district RYK, Rajanpur of Punjab and neighboring district Ghotki of Sind and area of Balochistan. It is a stretch of almost 170 kms on both sides of banks of Indus and in some of its islands where dacoit gangs hav-ing latest arms and ammunition including rock­et launchers and anti-aircraft guns live in their hideouts. These dacoit gangs did not spare any kidnappee’s relatives and got huge amounts for its release which is dealt by their facilita­tors and some politicians and landlords of the area, the locals alleged. Now a days, the dacoit gangs of Ghotki and Kashmore areas call the people from differ­ent cities of Punjab and Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa in the voice of women luring them for marriage or friendship and use the loca­tion of RYK. When an innocent arrives here in the Kacha area of Indus, the criminals kidnap him and took him to the premises of Ghotki or Kashmore. Similarly, the dacoits trap the people for cheap vehicles and send them details of cars and tractors. When any interested buyer ar­rives here, the criminals take him to their hideouts of Kacha area. The local residents question that why the law enforcement agencies could not search these criminals through us-ing the lat­est technologies because they (criminals) could be reached by their cellphone locations and their so-cial media accounts. 

But law enforcers did not have its answer, the affected people blamed. Only one operation by the ar-my was completely suc­cessful in which Chotu Gang sur­rendered. But after few years of peaceful law and or-der condi­tions, dacoit gangs again started their activities in Kacha area. Many operations by police were con-ducted in these areas but to no avail. Few days back an im­portant meeting of three chief ministers including Sind, Punjab and Balochistan was planned in Dilkusha area of RYK to discuss the worst condition of the area due to criminals but it was can­celled. According to some police sources in today’s meeting it was decided that the Kacha area will be cleared completely from the criminals. For this purpose the re­sources would be en-hanced. Lat­er IGP visited the Kacha area and met policemen deployed there. He also appreciated the police-men for their good morale