SWAT: Residents of Chail Madyan staged a protest demonstration here on Saturday against the kidnapping of four persons by dacoits in so-called Kacha area of Sindh.

The family members and residents of Chail Madyan held placards inscribed with slogans, demanding early release of the kidnapped persons.

Led by Hakim Shah, Aliur Rehman, Bakht Jehan, Adil Mohammad, Sher Khan and Dr Khali Mahmood, the protesters said Muhibullah, a resident of Chail Madyan Swat, along with his driver, a mechanic and an excavator operator were kidnapped by Kacha dacoits after they were trapped in a business deal.

“My cousin Muhibullah wanted to buy an excavator for which he found an advertisement on Facebook about an excavator for sale with images and a contact number of its owner. The man disguising himself as the owner of excavator told Muhibullah to bring a mechanic and operator to check the machine before purchase,” said the protesters.

They said Muhibullah, an excavator operator, mechanic and a taxi driver went to Shikarpur to meet the owners on November 4. “We lost contact with Muhibullah on Nov 5. After one week, his brother received a call from Muhib’s mobile number demanding him to bring Rs15 million ransom for release of his brother and Rs15 million ransom each for others,” he said.

They said the police in Kacha area were not lodging the FIR, arguing the dacoits were not from their area. “Kacha is a boarding area of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab provinces so the dacoits change their location frequently, which is why police of the three provinces do not register an FIR,” they said.

The relatives said they also met Pakistan Peoples Party’s Syed Khursheed Shah and other leaders to play their role in release of the kidnapped people. They demanded the government to take serious action against the dacoits to secure early release of their relatives.

Published in Dawn, january 1st, 2023