THATTA: A police inquiry conducted to unmask a violent group supported by an influential feudal lord revealed that its members were posing as flood victims and their sympathisers to claim and take away relief goods worth millions of people.

The group was organising protests near the Chato Chand area over the last few weeks and inviting flood victims to join them in demanding relief goods from government, aid agencies and welfare organisations, the police said.

During the protests, held along Thatta-Hyderabad road, the group would attack passing vehicles and people with stones and clubs while raising demand for food, water and relief goods.

THATTA: A police inquiry conducted to unmask a violent group supported by an influential feudal lord revealed that

A thorough inquiry conducted by the area police revealed that the group had managed to attract hundreds of people for the series of protest demonstrations. The demos were disrupting flow of vehicular traffic for hours and people were complaining that their vehicles were getting damaged. Some people also complained that they were injured by stone throwers.

Thatta Deputy Commissioner Ghaznafar Ali Qadri and SSP Adeel Chandio had formed an inquiry committee and tasked it with looking into the growing complaints.

The inquiry found that the protesters were not flood victims but greedy elements drawn from the area by henchmen of a local feudal lord, Hanif Soomro, the police said. The aim of staging this violent drama was to attract the attention of philanthropists, welfare organisations and aid agencies, besides government, to collect relief goods in bulk, they added.

“Some of the protesters and their leaders were henchmen of Hanif Soomro and some others were hired by him for the drama,” said a spokesperson of the Thatta police.

Quoting findings of the inquiry report, he said the same feudal lord was involved in grabbing state-owned and riverine lands with the support of local political figures.

The inquiry report has been submitted to the SSP, who has ordered registration of an FIR against Soomro and his alleged henchmen as well as hired goons, the spokesperson added.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2022