LARKANA: With criminal activities growing apace in the area, citizens have been given ammunition and other items as part of community policing in Naudero on the directive of a PPP MPA, sources have told Dawn.

As part of the ‘Peoples Chowkidari System’, aro­und two dozen watchmen were provided bullets, torches, etc, on Saturday to keep an eye on the outlaws. A four-member committee, comprising PPP Larkana district senior vice president Nisar Murad Bhutto, its Naudero city president Syed Arshad Rashdi, general secretary Anwar Buriro and A.D. Bhutto, has been formed to supervise the system.

Of the 24 watchmen, 20 reported to their place of duty on Sunday, while four will join on Monday (today). They will also be provided with an identity card and uniform and will be paid Rs15,000 a month for their service.

The town has been divided into two circles and six localities were included in each circle to cover the entire town. Two watchmen will be posted at every point, the sources said.

The system would short­ly be introduced in Ratodero town, the sources added.

The system was in place in Naudero district before it was shelved in 2000.

The move came one day after many people took to the streets in Naudero to protest against the surge in street crimes. The protesters said cash, gold ornaments, prize bonds and other valuables worth Rs15 million had been taken away in an armed robbery in the house of Prof Dr Saleemullah in the Post Office area recently.

On the same night, robbers broke into the house of Kamran Shaikh in Pir Jo Goth and killed him. In another incident, muggers deprived Saeed Korejo, the owner of a mobile phone shop, of around Rs300,000 at gunpoint.

Published in Dawn, January 23th, 2023