SUKKUR: A large number of civil society activists, workers and supporters of various nationalist parties and people from different walks of life held a demonstration outside the Kandhkot Press Club on Sunday on a joint call given by their organisations against failure of the district police in controlling kidnapping for ransom and recovering hostages from the clutches of dacoit gangs.

The call was given after several fresh incidents of kidnapping for ransom and increased activities of dacoit gangs having their hideouts in the riverine areas of Kandhkot-Kashmore district, besides other parts of upper Sindh.

The demonstrators condemned the Kandhkot police for failing to recover two brothers belonging to the Mirani clan and three members of a family – a man, his son and a nephew belonging to the Suhriani community – kidnapped about a week ago and taken into the adjacent riverine area.

The protesters were led by Dr Mehar Chand, (Chief Muqaddam) Rahmat Khan Suhriyani, Ghulam Mustafa Mirani, Dilmurad Dahani, Sajjad Brohi, Zareet Bijarani, Bashir Mirani, Comrade Abbas, Hafiz Irfanullah Khoso, Maulvi Mohammad Ibrahim Khaki, Ghansham Das, Tara Chand, Pawan Kumar and others.

Protesters deplore police failure to recover hostages held by gangs for weeks

Addressing the protesters, they lamented that the Kandhkot police had utterly failed to discharge their prime duty of ensuring safety and security of citizens. They noted that a grand operation by a considerably heavy number of police and Rangers personnel had been under way for months in upper Sindh but dacoit gangs were continuing all sorts of heinous crimes, including kidnapping for ransom, murder, looting and highway robberies, at their whim.

They recalled that only a week ago, Khalid Mirani alias Lalu and his brother Sadrudding Mirani, had been kidnapped by a gang while a man, Ali Bahar Suhriani, his young son, Shaman Ali, and nephew, Zeeshan, were taken away at gunpoint by another gang. They had been kept at some hideout in the riverine area but police had failed to even reach out the kidnappers or their hideouts, they said.

They told the media that heinous crimes, especially kidnapping for ransom, had already become a lucrative business in upper Sindh only because the security forces were weaker than the dacoit gangs.

“No citizen living in any part of the Kandhkot-Kashmore district feels safe as the area was practically being ruled by these gangs,” they observed, and urged the authorities concerned to take effective measures to restore complete peace in the area.

One of the speakers pointed out that soon after police would succeed in getting one hostage freed, the gangs would kidnap many more people.

He noted with concern that the number of people held hostage in upper Sindh for weeks had continuously been rising.

The leaders deplored that the police had failed to make any remarkable effort even after strict directives of the chief justice of the Sindh High Court in this regard during his visit to Kandhkot last week.

The leaders appreciated and thanked the District Bar Association for taking up the matter with the SHC chief justice and other authorities concerned, and hoped that Sindh government and security forces would take effective measures soon for the safe recovery of all hostages held by gangs.

During the course of the protest, DSP Syed Asghar Shah spoke to the leaders and held out the assurance that all hostages would be got freed as soon as possible. He sought some time for chalking out an effective strategy to defeat the active dacoit gangs in the district.

The protesters dispersed peacefully on his assurance.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024