SUKKUR: The Shikarpur police on Tuesday claimed to have killed Sheroo Mahar — a notorious dacoit nominated as the prime suspect in the murder case of senior journalist Jan Mohammad Mahar — in a drone attack in the kutcha area of the district.

The journalist, who worked for Sindhi language KTN news network, was shot dead by unknown assailants who had opened fire on his car after he left his office in Sukkur in late evening hours on Aug 14, 2024.

Believing that he was killed by a gang headed by Sheroo Mahar, the police had since then been maintaining that he could not be arrested because he had taken shelter deep inside the gang-infested riverine area of Shikarpur.

The Sindh government ultimately placed a bounty of Rs5m on Sheroo’s head.

Shikarpur SSP Shahzeb Chachar told media personnel on Tuesday that Sheroo was killed and several other outlaws were wounded in a drone attack in the Chak taluka of the district.

He claimed that the attack was carried out during the ongoing joint operation by police and Rangers in the riverine area falling within the Bachal Bhayo police station.

He said Sheroo’s body was taken to the Lakhi Taluka Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Sindh Home Minister Zia Ul Hassan Lanjar has congratulated the Shikarpur police team which took part in the operation.

As soon as the news about the death of Sher Mohammad Mahar alias Sheroo went viral on the social media, several activists started contesting the police claim. Many of them claimed that Sheroo had been suffering from Hapatitis C and could not survive as proper health services were not available in riverine areas. They said Sheroo had died on Monday and alleged that the police resorted to claiming credit of his killing only to seek the Rs5m bounty.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2025