LARKANA, Dec 13: Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro has urged law officers to effectively plead government’s cases for the evacuation of vast areas of forest, irrigation and revenue lands allegedly encroached upon by private parties in the province.

Talking to Dawn here on Saturday after presiding over a meeting of law officers and district heads of various departments hailing from Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts, he said that scores of cases were pending in courts.

He deplored that various government departments were hiring services of private advocates instead of government law officers, which led to piling up of cases.

The law minister said that over 200 vacancies of law officers in the province would soon be filled on contractual basis and the officers, thus appointed, would subsequently be regularised through the Sindh Public Service Commission. The process would begin within a couple of weeks, he said.

He asked the participants of the meeting to recommend competent lawyers for appointment as law officers in Grade 17. The participants informed the minister that over 2,400 acres of government land in Ratodero and 80 acres forest land in Dokri was encroached upon and the cases were pending in courts.

The minister asked the District Coordination Officer, Larkana, Mohammed Jaffar Abbasi, to properly pursue the pending cases.

The minister said that irrigation officers had not been promoted from Grade 20 to Grade 21 since 1989 and their cases were pending in courts.

The law department had initiated an exercise to centrally collect the data of court cases and the district monitoring cell for court cases was established in each district to feed the main office in Karachi.

When asked about the restoration of commissioners’ slots in the province, he said that Sindh would follow other provinces saying that the three provinces had supported the proposal.

Replying to a question about the stance of the Sindh government over the mode of holding ensuing local governments’ elections, he said they would be held in accordance with the 1973 Constitution.

BUSINESSMAN KIDNAPPED: A group of armed highwaymen kidnapped Shoaib Shaikh, a petrol outlet owner near ‘Mehmood Dero’ village on Saturday, six kilometres off here on Larkana-Qambar road.

He was returning from Qambar after a routine inspection of his pump.

The kidnapers left behind the car of the kidnapped victim and his accountant Ashraf Soomro, said Aijaz Shiakh the cousin of the victim.

The kidnappers chased the car of the victim from ‘Bero Chandio’ village and intercepted his vehicle near Mehmood Dero village and kidnapped him at gun point.

The kidnappers later changed the route and abandoned the car near Yusif Shah Jilani on Wagan road. The DSP Larkana Yusif Ridd was following the kidnappers.

The incident took place when Sindh chief minister, home minister, law minister and high officials were present in Larkana.

The sources said that in 1992 Mohammed Ali Shaikh, a big trader of Larkana and the uncle of Shoaib Shiakh, was kidnapped from Larkana.

He had returned home after remaining for two months in the captivity of his kidnappers.