LARKANA, Aug 4: Rangers and police have begun interrogating the people who were picked up in three villages in a crackdown on outlaws. Briefing journalists at the Rangers' headquarters here on Wednesday, the DPO said following initial inquiry , 33 persons had been detained and handed over to Rangers for further investigation.

He said three wanted criminals - Peero Abro, Yaseen Abro and Nazeer Abro -, who were present in the area, had managed to escape. He said the operation against outlaws in the district would continue.

When the DPO was briefing the journalists, relatives of the arrested villagers gathered outside the headquarters. They alleged that police had also held farmers Dhani Bakhsh Mahar, Sheral Oad, Latif Shaikh, Khair Mohammad Aarijo and Ghulam Haider Aarijo.

Sources told this correspondent on Wednesday that Rangers had kept 34 persons and released the rest after initial interrogation. Those arrested and being interrogated by Rangers and police included Nasrullah, Majeed, Ghulam Haider, Moharram, Sajid, Ghulam Abbas, Waheed, Mujeeb, Ghulam Rasool Abro, Altaf, Saleem, Khadim, Waseem, Talib, Haji Yunis, Shamir, Inam, Zahid, Mohammad Jam, Zubir, Ali Bakhsh and Sharafuddain. They have been detained at the Rangers' headquarters and the taluka police station.

SPLA: The Sindh Lecturers and Professors Association on Tuesday boycotted the assessment of papers of HSC-I, science group, to protest against the controller of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Larkana. The association's Larkana chapter also held a meeting under its president, Prof Ghulam Asghar Shah.