SUKKUR, July 21: Over 1,000 personnel of rangers conducted a raid on the Abdullah Mazari village and its surrounding areas on Sindh-Balochistan border on early Monday morning.

The rangers cordoned off the village, conducted house to house search, arrested 18 men— including Ghulam Nabi, Mohammad Ali, Mithoo and Khan, all Mazari by caste— and recovered some licensed and unlicensed weapons from their possession.

Sources said that the raid was conducted on an information that bandit Dino Mazari is present in the village.

The rangers also recovered a girl and arrested her kidnapper in the Domki village, Bakhshapur police station jurisdiction, on Monday evening.

Talking to this correspondent, Col Hafeez Dar, the in charge of the anti-bandit operation, said the rangers raided the village after they were informed by a woman that Mehar Ali Lashari, a member of bandit Ali Bagh’s gang was residing in a house in the village along with the girl.

The rangers arrested Lashari and recovered the girl who was kidnapped by him two years back.

Col Dar said the girl was frightened that she might be killed on the pretext of Karo-kari. He said after proper investigation, measures would be taken to protect her life.

He confirmed that the rangers had raided the Abdullah Mazari village and arrested 18 persons, wanted by the police in several cases.

Meanwhile, the rangers have intensified patrolling in the area after a landmine blast left a rangers driver dead and four others injured.

Sources close to the rangers said that the rangers were busy in locating landmines and establishing checkposts on sensitive points. They had informed the federal government that more time was required to complete the operation against the outlaws

However, residents of the Sindh-Balochistan-Punjab border area are very annoyed over the rangers’ operation.

They said that the outlaws had fled from the area and the rangers were harassing innocent villagers. They added that in the situation, the people were forced to remain confined to their houses and even could not look after their crops.