SUKKUR: An anti-encroachment team of Pakistan Railways (PR) was forced to beat a hasty retreat without doing its job at Garam Godi locality here on Saturday when it faced stiff resistance from area people.

The team arrived at the locality along with cranes, bulldozers and tractors to remove illegal structures but before it could set about the work, area people led by union council chairman-elect Ajmal Malik, vice chairman-elect Ghulam Hussain Leghari and leader of the Adam Shah Ittehad Nadeem Soomro put up strong resistance. They pelted the vehicles with stones and forced the team to leave the area without doing its job. The enraged mob then burnt tyres on road, held a demonstration and sit-in and raised slogans against railway authorities, bringing traffic to a halt.

They said the railway authorities were demolishing their homes in the name of operation against encroachments which was completely unjust and cruel. They vowed to resist the operation at any cost.

‘Dacoit’ arrested

Jacobabad police on Saturday claims to have arrested a dacoit carrying a head-money of Rs500,000 in an watch-and-ward action.

Jacobabad SSP Sajid Khokhar told a press conference in his office that a cordon was laid after receiving information about the presence of Sardaroo Pechuho, a dacoit operating its gang in Sindh and Balochistan, at a bus stand within Jacobabad city.

The SSP said that Pechuho’s gang comprised 41 members and six of them had been arrested so far.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2015