LARKANA: A band of armed outlaws riding more than a dozen motorcycles surrounded the bungalow of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sardar Safdar Ali Mithani and sprayed it with bullets in the early hours of Tuesday. No one was, however, wounded in the attack on Mithani House, situated near Jiles Bazaar in the centre of Larkana.

Sardar Mithani later told Dawn that the attackers were criminals who surrounded his house from all sides at Sehri time and started heavy firing. Bullets pierced through the doors of the upper storey and riddled walls and ceiling fans, he added.

He said he believed the culprits, belonging to the Jatoi clan, had come from the nearby Ghulam Bhutto village.

Some Mithani clansmen countered the attackers and forced them to flee, he added.

Later, a large number of people visited Mithani House to inquire about the wellbeing of the Sardar and his family members. Larkana SSP Kamran Nawaz Panjotha also rushed to the bungalow and collected first-hand information.

A strong police contingent carried out a combing up operation in several nearby villages but found no male members present in their houses.

In an FIR (No.44/2016) lodged with the Haidri police station by Pervaiz Mithani, a police officer posted at the Larkana DIG office, it was stated that 28 armed criminals including Tashkeel Jatoi, Zahid Jatoi, Rashid Jatoi, Mehrab and Ghazi Jatoi carried out the attack to terrify Sardar Mithani and his family members after their repeated demand for money was ignored.

It was further stated that the extortionists were threatening to grab the family’s plot situated along Larkana-Naudero road if their demand was not met.

Similar threatening phone calls were made to Inspector Pervaiz Mithani a few days ago and after the Tuesday morning attack, it was learnt.

36 councillors in Larkana join PML-Q

Five councillors along with the chairman and vice chairman of Khairpur Juso union council have affiliated themselves to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Originally the UC was dominated by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) whose former district president Ghulam Mujtaba Isran was in a strong position, he said.

PML-Q vice president Babu Serwar Siyal said on Tuesday that 31 independent councillors and four chairmen and vice chairmen of Bakhsh Jatoi and Matoo union councils and Dokri town committee had also affiliated themselves to the party.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2016