SUKKUR: Sindh Rangers and Shikarpur police carried out an intelligence-based joint operation in the riverine area of Garhi Tegho killing Hakim Ali Teghani — a dreaded dacoit carrying Rs2m head money notified by Sindh government — along with his associate, Jagan Teghani.

According to a handout issued by the Sindh Rangers on Tuesday, the joint operation with the help of latest technology was carried out against Nisar Sabzoi gang, which is operational in the Garhi Tegho riverine area of Shikarpur district.

It said that gangsters opened fire on the joint force which was returned. The encounter ended up in the instant death of Hakim Ali Teghani. His associate, Jagan Teghani, was seriously wounded and later died during treatment, it added.

The handout said that the joint force inflicted severe injuries on many dacoits during the operation.

Media personnel reporting from the area, meanwhile, suggested that the joint force targeted several hideouts of the gang within the area. They claimed that mortars were fired on one of the hideouts which resulted in the death of three suspected gangsters.

They said that the operation was launched to rescue some hostages who, according to intelligence reports, were kept in the gang’s hideouts within the Garhi Tegho riverine area, falling within the limits of the Naparkot police station of Shikarpur district.

The media personnel reported that drone cameras were used to detect the hideouts. They claimed that Hakim Ali Teghani and two of his gang members were killed in the operation.

Sources in the area said that neither the bodies of dead dacoits nor the wounded victims could be taken into custody by police during or after the operation.

Nor was any hostage recovered, they added.

Cop robbed of gun, bike

Separately, armed gangsters shot at and robbed an ASI, Najeebullah, of his official pistol and motorcycle while he was travelling in an area falling within the limits of the Khairpur police station on Tuesday.

It was reported that the gangsters intercepted ASI’s motorcycle and snatched the vehicle, his official pistol and other belongings. The police officer reportedly offered resistance upon which the gangsters opened fire and wounded him. The victim was later taken to a hospital in Khairpur for treatment.

Biker shot dead

A youth riding a motorcycle was killed and his companion was wounded by three armed men, who later took away the two-wheeler on Tuesday.

According to the Kandhkot police, the armed men tried to snatch the motorcycle upon which the youth, Khan Mohammad Qambrani, put up resistance.

The outlaws opened fire killing him on the spot and wounding his companion, whose name could not be ascertained as doctors at the Kandhkot hospital referred him to the Sukkur Civil Hospital due to his critical condition.

They said that the incident took place along the Indus Highway within the limits of the Tangwani police station of Kandhkot.

Soon after Qambrani’s body was handed over to the bereaved family, a large number of his relatives and other members of his community took to the street and placed the body in the middle of the Kandhkot-Thull section of Indus Highway to register their protest.

The protesters kept both tracks of the highway blocked for several hours. Later, a community elder, Mir Ashraf Khan Bijarani, along with some police officers held negotiations with the protesters and persuaded them to clear the highway.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2024