LAHORE: The Rahim Yar Khan police and personnel of the special operations unit recovered 11 abducted farmers and killed a kidnapper in an operation in the Katcha area.

The search operation was launched after Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of the kidnap of the farmers and formed a team for their recovery.

An alleged robber, Nadir Sakhani, who was involved in heinous crimes, including murder, robbery and kidnap for ransom, had also been killed during the operation, a spokesperson for the Punjab police said.

Sharing the details, he said Nadir Sakhani and his accomplices had kidnapped the farmers and took away their cattle in the area of Katcha Mahazi.

The farmers were identified as Talib Hussain, Khan Muhammad, Shafiq Ahmed, Ghulam Haider, Ghulam Mustafa, Bakshuanda, Jaam Doda, Aashiq, Rafiq Ahmed, Hassan Bakhsh and Jaam Kora. They were kept hostage by dacoit gang for the last five days on different islands in the river.

The spokesperson said Bahawalpur Regional Police Officer Muhammad Faisal Rana and Rahim Yar Khan District Police Officer Muhammad Athar Waheed supervised the operation in the area of the Acha Bangla police station.

The IGP lauded the efforts of Rahim Yar Khan police and personnel of the special operation unit on completing this operation successfully.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2018