SUKKUR, Jan 7: A large number of Golo tribesmen staged a demonstration in Zoargarh village near Kandhkot on Tuesday against the police failure to recover two hostages, Barkat Golo and Rahim Bux Golo.
The protestors threatened 10,000 Golo tribesmen would block the Indus Highway on Jan 12 if the hostages were not recovered.
They said the police arrested four men, allegedly involved in the kidnapping, two days back but they were released on the intervention of some influential persons of the area.
The protestors said the police had failed to control robbery incidents in the area and, instead of arresting the accused, they were extorting money from innocent people.
HOSTAGES RELEASED: Two hostages, Hizbullah and Noor Mohammad, who were kidnapped on Oct 28 in Thul, were released in Sui on Tuesday by kidnappers after they were paid Rs200,000 as ransom, family sources said.
SECURITY: Special security measures were taken around the Shahbaz Air Base as a result of the protest rallies in upper Sindh.
All the entry and exit points to the base were sealed. Besides, all passersby were being searched.
The Sindh government has alerted all district administrations and police forces to take special precautionary measures. It also asked the authorities concerned to stop the protest rallies before they turned violent.
PRISONERS: The Human Rights Network for Sindh (HRNS) will launch a campaign for the release of those prisoners, who have completed their terms but are still in jail due to non-payment of fine money.
This was said by the president of the HRNS, wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Ghulam Qadir Jatoi, while talking to journalists here on Tuesday.
He said one such detainee had died in the central jail.
Jatoi, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, said during his visit to the two jails of Sukkur, he discovered many prisoners, who had completed their term but were still languishing in the jails as they had failed to pay fine money.
He said the prisoners told him due to poverty, they could not pay their fine money and that the government and NGOs should make arrangements for the payment.
He said philanthropists, Baitul Maal and Zakat and Ushr committees of Sukkur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Larkana and Ghotki should make arrangements for the payment of such fines.
In reply to a question, Jatoi said the number of such inmates in the Sukkur jails was more than 120 and the total fine amount was about Rs1 million.
