RAHIM YAR KHAN/SUKKUR: Sugarcane crop sown in abundance in riverine areas is a major hurdle in police operations against gangsters for whom it is a haven — as they can hide themselves easily and ambush any target.

A police officer who has been part of several operations in the riverine areas in the past told this correspondent the cane crop grows in size and height due to marshy ground. He said the Thursday attack on police vehicles was also carried out from a nearby canefield.

He said geographically Machka was a very difficult and complicated area for police due to muddy passages in the riverine area and many small and large islands in the Indus bed.

Machka and Kharor union councils fall in NA-174 (Sadiqabad tehsil of Rahim Yar Khan district) but are surrounded by Ghotki district of Sindh. Machka is around 17km away from the last Punjab police check post of Daudwala on the Sadiqabad-Kashmore highway.

Shar gangs operate in vast area of Sindh, Punjab border

The two UCs with a population of 100,000 are not only separated from the rest of the constituency but from the provincial border as well.

A police station and various check posts have been established in the two areas.

GANGSTERS: The Shar communities, including Shar gangs, mainly dwell in areas of Sindh-Punjab borders. They are settled on a 35km stretch between Kot Sabzal (Sindh-Punjab border) and Ubauro (Sindh).

They speak Sindhi in Sindh and Seraiki, Balochi and Punjabi on the Punjab side. The area where policemen were ambushed on Thursday night is called Machko (in Sindhi) and lies almost 80km from Ubauro tehsil in Ghotki district in South. In North, the katcha area touches Guddu Barrage and this huge area also touches Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab borders.

Whenever the Shars commit any crime, they slip into any area of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan as their location lies in Ubauro, Rahim Yar Khan and Sui (Dera Bugti) via the katcha area of south Punjab. This katcha area also touches Rajanpur, Kandhkot, Kashmore and Guddu from the Sindh side.

People of Shar community also live in Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sadiqabad, Machka and Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab. In Balochistan, they live in Dera Bugti and Sibi whereas in Sindh, they live in Ubauro, Daharki, Rwanti, Mirpur Mathelo in Ghotki district and in Panu Aqil, Salepat, Rohri in Sukkur district.

Most of the criminals and dacoits of the Shar community are also in other districts of Sindh such as Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Larkana.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2024