SUKKUR: A gang of burglars broke into a house in Panu Aqil late on Tuesday night, held inmates hostage at gunpoint, robbed them of all valuable belongings and also snatched a seven-year-old boy while escaping away with the loot.

Sukkur SSP Abid Ali Baloch took action on burglary in Mohammad Akram Arain’s house and abduction of his son, Hussain Arain, and formed a team led by Panu Aqil DSP to ensure recovery of the child as early as possible.

Police officials said the team had started conducting raids in different areas to recover the abducted boy.

Netizens heaped criticism on police for failing to provide security to citizens and maintain peace across the district.

Abduction sparks protest

A large number of rights activists, members of civil society and religious and political parties led by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Maulana Mohammad Saleh Indhar, emir of his party’s Sukkur chapter, staged a sit-in before City police station in Panu Aqil and demanded immediate recovery of the child, according to said a press statement issued by JUI-F Sukkur chapter.

JUI-F Panu Aqil leaders said that law and order conditions in Sukkur district had broken down and people were deprived sense of security. Despite repeated complaints, police and administration had failed to provide protection to citizens from criminals, they complained.

They demanded the abducted child should be rescued from kidnappers at the earliest and effective measures should be taken to improve law and order. The negligent police officials should be dismissed, otherwise they would continue the protest till the child was recovered, they said.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2024