HYDERABAD: Muttahida Labour Federation secretary general and veteran labour leader Qamoos Gul Khattak has demanded a Rangers-led operation in the Lakhra coal field to rid coal mining companies’ managements of extortionists and criminals.

Addressing a press conference at the local press club on Monday, along with a coal mining company’s representative Irshad Ahmed Khan and ANP-Wali leader Mehran Gul, he said ‘criminals and extortionists’ were having a field day in the coal field because police avoided taking action against them.

He quoted an incident of May 15 in which six alleged extortionists had harassed Irshad Ahmed Khan and kept intimidating them for four days. He said criminals resorted to firing and attacked the company. Such incidents had taken place this year as well as last year but police never took any action, he said, adding that the coal field virtually had become a no-go area.

He said that around 300 labourers were engaged in that one company where the total number of coalmine workers ran into thousands. He said coalmines paid a huge amount of sales tax to the national kitty. He also disclosed names of six alleged criminals.

He further said that such criminals had formed their own so-called organisation.

He said these elements wanted that the coal should not be extracted from the mines. He further said that operation Raddul Fasaad was under way and Rangers should be given powers to launch a crackdown in the coal field of Lakhra in order to protect the labourers and coal mining companies. He also demanded of Sindh IGP, Hyderabad police DIG and Jamshoro SSP to take action in the matter.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2017