RAHIM YAR KHAN: Police claim to have arrested a five-member inter-provincial gang allegedly involved in supplying weapons to the dacoit gangs of Katcha area, recovering a huge cache of arms and ammunition from them.

According to a handout issued on Tuesday, district police recovered 22 Kalashnikov rifles, 65 pistols and 1,000 bullets of different bores from the suspects.

The handout says the arrested gang members belong to Kohat and Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, without revealing their identities.

Sadiqabad Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP) Bangal Khan Bugti, flanked by other police officials of Bhong and Kot Sabzal, said that police got a tip-off that a gang of smugglers is going to supply a cache of weapons to the dacoit gangs of Ghotki,Pannu Aqil and Rato Dero in interior Sindh.

Acting on the information, the police blocked the passages leading to Sindh and Balochistan and arrested the gang members at Daowala police checkpoint, the handout claimed.

Punjab Inspector General Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar and District Police Officer (DPO) Rizwan Umar Gondal have announced cash prizes and appreciation certificates for the police officials involved in the operation.

The dacoits of Katcha area use arms in kidnapping for ransom, dacoities and other heinous crimes, including attacks on police.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2024