QUETTA: Security forces arrested several members of a criminal gang involved in heinous crimes, including kidnapping for ransom, killings, highway robberies and carjacking, during a combing operation in the Lanjosaghari area of Dear Bugti district on Thursday.

Officials said the gang had been operating in the area for a long time, adding that Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti had taken serious notice of the increasing criminal activities of the Chakarani gang, and ordered a grand operation against them.

The Frontier Corps, Counter Terrorism Department, Levies and police cordoned off the Lanjosaghari area on Thursday morning and asked the gang members to surrender, but they started firing.

The security forces took potions and returned fire. The gang members used heavy weapons against the forces.

However, the security forces succeeded in reaching the hideouts of the criminals and set them on fire.

“The hideouts and houses of the criminal gang were burnt and destroyed in the operation,” Home Department officials told Dawn.

Sources said many members of the gang were arrested and arms and ammunition seized during the operation.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2024