SUKKUR: Five houses were set on fire and as many women were taken into custody by a police contingent comprising officers and personnel drawn from several police stations of Kandhkot-Kashmore district for an operation against kidnappers in Jado Bhangwar village near Bakhshapur town on Tuesday.

Led by Bakhshapur SHO Lemo Khan Lashari, the police force surrounded the village and carried out a house-to-house search for the recovery of five missing persons, including Bakht Jalbani, Humair Bhutto and Zulfiqar Jamali, said to be taken to the village by their kidnappers.

Reports from the village suggested that after failing to find any hostage or kidnapper in the search operation, the police set fire to five houses, claiming that according to a tip-off they had received earlier the hostages had been kept there.

Owners of the houses, Mr Manzoor, Mr Mushki, Mr Ghaffar and Mr Pasand, all members of the Bhangwar community, denied the allegation and protested the police action.

They said that all their belongings, including household items, furniture, grain and other valuables, were reduced to ashes.

Read: Police bulldoze 15 houses in hunt for youth’s killers

Area people said the police also took away with them five women in order to force the alleged kidnappers to release their hostages and surrender before the police.

Efforts to seek police version of the operation did not succeed as no one attended the phone at the Bukhshapur police station despite repeated attempts nor did the SHO concerned answer his phone till late in the evening.

Raid on court order

A team of the women police station in Larkana, along with personnel of the Dadloi police station, carried out a raid in Bahadur Bullo village near Pannu Aqil town on Tuesday and recovered a woman allegedly kidnapped in Larkana about two months ago.

An order for the police action was issued by the Sindh High Court, Larkana circuit bench, for the recovery of Veena Junejo on an application filed by her sister, Samina Junejo.

The Larkana women police officials said the recovered woman who would be produced in court on Wednesday to enable her to express her free will in the matter.

The raiding team said that the woman had been kept in a house owned by Akbar Bullo, who managed to escape during the raid.

However, his relatives told police that “Mr Bullo had purchased Veena Juenjo from her family and they have since got married”.

Jirga settles dispute

The Khoso and Lashari communities in Rasool Abad near Tangwani town of Kandhkot-Kashmore district on Tuesday buried the hatchet after a jirga (tribal court) imposed a fine of Rs665,000 on a Khoso man for maintaining an extramarital affair with a Lashari woman.

The allegation against Hassan Khan Khoso was proved during the proceedings of the jirga presided over by tribal elder Balhoo Khan Lashari in the village. A large number of people from both communities attended the proceedings and accepted the ruling.

The guilty side paid Rs50,000 on the spot and undertook to pay off the remaining fine amount in three monthly instalments.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014