LAHORE: The army on Saturday took complete control of the ongoing Zarb-i-Aahan operation with the deployment of troops, including commandos, in the riverine area of Rajanpur to fight against the criminals belonging to the Chotoo gang, a day after aerial strikes on their forest hideouts on an island in the River Indus.

Police and the Rangers will continue to participate in the operation under the army command as the final round of the operation is likely to start anytime late Saturday night or early Sunday, according to official sources.

At least nine policemen have been killed and 24 taken hostage by the gangsters during armed clashes with the police during the 10-day crackdown against the Chotoo gang.

Meanwhile, the security forces have picked up the family of Ghulam Rasool alias Chotoo, the ringleader of the Chotoo gang, to put pressure on him in order to secure the release of the policemen who had been taken hostage by the gang.

“Army troops [have been] deployed. Take over charge of [the Zarb-i-Aahan] operation. Cordon [of the area has been] reinforced,” Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations Lt Gen Asim Bajwa tweeted on Saturday afternoon.

He added: “Whatever resources [were] required will be deployed to accomplish the mission.”

Chotoo’s wife, son held to put pressure on him to free captive policemen

The army, which was called in on Friday, has deployed over 1,000 troops, including 390 Special Services Group (SSG) commandos, to lead the operation, according to a source in the security forces. “The SSG commandos have been given the key role in the operation,” the source said, adding that around 1,600 policemen and 300 Rangers were also part of the ongoing campaign.

“A curfew has been clamped on the 10km area of Kacha Jamal from where the troops were to move ahead for the operation to limit the movement of local population. The military is using armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and heavy artillery to launch the next round of campaign to flush out the gangsters. The final round of operation is likely to start anytime late Saturday night or early Sunday,” said a police official.

Meanwhile, a source said, the security forces took into custody the wife and a son of Ghulam Rasool alias Chotoo, the ringleader of the Chotoo gang. “His wife was picked up at the Multan Cantonment while the son at his school in Muzaffargarh to mount pressure on him to secure the release of policemen taken hostage,” he explained.

The source said Friday’s shelling through cobra helicopters had forced the gangsters to leave their 60 bunkers being used by them for retaliation. “The gangsters have retreated from their forward positions because of frequent gunship shelling,” he said.

The army was using drone cameras and satellite technology for surveillance of the area as well as for taking images of the island to track the movement of criminals. Mapping through drone cameras helped the army to prepare its strategy for the operation, the source said.

A one-kilomotre-long temporary bridge is being built by the army to link Kacha Jamal with the island from the Rahim Yar Khan side to move armoured personnel carriers and weapons to the troubled area, according to the source.

Families stage protest

Dawn’s Dera Ghazi Khan correspondent Tariq Birmani reported that the families of the policemen captured by the gangsters staged a protest demonstration at Jampur seeking their safe recovery. The policemen had been taken hostage a couple of days ago when they tried to enter the island. The Chotoo gang is believed to be using the hostages as a human shield against shelling and firing by the army.

There were reports that the ringleader of the gang, Ghulam Rasool Chotoo, had demanded Rs300 million, safe passage for his loyalists and suspension of the operation in exchange for the release of the hostages.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2016