Five cops were martyred after bandits of the Katcha area attacked a police checkpoint in Rahim Yar Khan, a statement from the Punjab police said on Friday.

For decades, dozens of bandit gangs armed with sophisticated weaponry have operated with impunity in northern Sindh as well as southern Punjab. Kidnappings for ransom, extortion rackets that cripple local businesses, brutal killings and looting people on the major highways have become a daily reality.

According to a statement from the office of the Inspector General of Punjab, almost 40 bandits, using rocket launchers and grenades, attacked the Sheikhani police picket in the Katcha area, situated between Chowk Sewetra and Chowk Mahi near the Guddu-Kashmore Road on Thursday night.

“During the attack, policemen of Elite Force, including Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Saleem and Nukhail of Bahawalnagar, together with Khalil and Ghazanfar of Rahim Yar Khan, were martyred,” the statement said, adding that a bandit was also killed when the police retaliated.

Following the sudden attack, police started a search operation against the bandits in the area, it added.

Inspector General (IG) Punjab Police Dr Usman Anwar took notice of the incident and sought a report from the regional police officer, Bahawalpur.

“IG Usman also instructed the Rahim Yar Khan District Police Officer, Irfan Ali Sammon, to immediately arrest the bandits involved in the attack,” the statement added.

The funeral prayers of martyred policemen were to be offered at Rahim Yar Khan police lines at 2:30pm today, it added.

Last month, different dacoit gangs of the Katcha area, through their social media posts and videos, had directly challenged the writ of the police and claimed that they would target them. As seen in the videos, the dacoits were equipped with the latest, sophisticated weapons, per the statement.

Per the statement, the bandits had recently attacked stone-carrying trucks near the Hajipur area to extort money from the owner of the trucks. Similarly, area locals complained that several bandit gangs still had complete control over different islands of the Indus River.

In March, three people were shot at and killed by dacoits in the Jamaldin Wali area of tehsil Sadiqabad near the Indus River to avenge the murder of a YouTuber dacoit.

In January, three members of the Hindu community from Chowk Sawetra area near Bhong were allegedly kidnapped by dacoits of Katcha area.