DERA GHAZI KHAN, March 5: The infamous inter-provincial gang involved in the Loralai kidnapping case was formed by the five sons of Lal Muhammad in the late 90s.

The circumstances which made the brothers take up arms and become outlaws once again demonstrate the poor state of the country's judicial system and police's failure to protect the people and arrest criminals.

According to local elders and police, Kamal Khan Lakhra Jaafar, the father of Lal Muhammad, had left his native Dorug village in Musa Khail district, Balochistan, along with his family long before the partition. The family spent several years in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta and then returned to Hyderabad, Sindh, probably just before partition.

In 1964, the family of Kamal Khan shifted to Khala Shaher in Duki tehsil, Balochistan. At that time, Kamal Khan Lakhra used to wear sherwani and pyjama with a cap on his head. After some years, they again changed their residence and shifted to Semani Qila where they built their traditional house.

Lal Muhammad, the illiterate son of aged Kamal Khan, got dispenser's training from Shaista Khan Manzai in Loralai in the late 60s and then started door-to-door medical practice.

Once again, the family changed its residential place and shifted to Sanjavi, Balochistan. Lal Muhammad purchased a piece of agricultural land in Chotair in Tandwani district, Loralai.

After some time, he along with his six sons - Hameed, Majeed, Jamil, Khalil and Aziz shifted to Chotair, which was largely dominated by the Shadozai Pashtoon tribe.

In the mid 90s, the family had developed some dispute with the Shadozai tribe which resulted in the murder of Hameed, a teacher. To take revenge, the deceased's brothers killed Haji Din Muhammad and Haji Baz Muhammad, the two prominent figures of the Shadozai tribe along with their three guards when they were going to attend court proceedings in the murder case of Hameed in the late 90s.

After the incident, Majeed (teacher), Jamil, Jalil (sub-engineers), Khalil and Aziz shifted to some unknown place but their father did not leave his house in Chotair. Later, Lal Muhammad was arrested by police and sent to Sanjavi jail where he was stabbed to death.

Sources alleged that he had been murdered at the behest of an influential figure of the Shadozai tribe. Police record said Lal had committed suicide.Under these circumstances emerged the Jaafar Gang of the five sons of Lal.

Sources alleged that they were trained by POs of the Punjab in tribal areas under the supervision of influential tribal figures of Balochistan. They told Dawn that the Jaafar Gang had links with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, from where they obtained unconventional weapons.

Initially, the gang had started its criminal activities by snatching cars, motorcycles and tractors from Dera Ghazi Khan under the alleged patronage of influential persons of Taunsa Sharif, Shadan Lond, Kala, Jhoke Utra, Dera Ghazi Khan, Kotla Mughlan and Rajanpur.

On April 30, 2001, they kidnapped youth Aasif Ansari from Shadan Lond. The kidnappers were stopped by the people in the tribal area of DG Khan when they were fleeing towards Balochistan.

In a shootout, two local tribesmen Zafar and Ghulam Rasool were injured. Later, Border Military Police led by then commandant Javed Mehmood Bhatti reached the spot and engaged the kidnappers in the shootout along with the tribal people.

Consequently, one kidnapper Ghafoor was hurt and he died in jail while ring leader Jamil Jaafar, who laid down his arms along with his aides, was shot dead by the commandant.

The BMP had registered a case against the arrested culprits - Majeed, Dur Muhammad, Akhtar Jan Khetran, Abdul Ghafoor and Tahir Shah and sent them to Central Jail, Dera Ghazi Khan. It may be mentioned that they are still in the Dera jail.

The controversial killing of ring leader Jalil Jaafar created a bloody row between the Buzdar and the Jaafar tribes which claimed five lives. To take revenge of Jalil's murder, the Jaafar Gang killed two Buzdars and one Malghani on July 23, 2001. The Buzdars retaliated and killed Gul Muhammad Jaafar, an innocent senior teacher, on Aug 16, 2001. The next day, the Buzdars killed Jan Muhammad, another Jaafar tribesman.

Alarmed by the shootouts between the two tribes, the administration and chieftains intervened to defuse the tension. Two tribal jirgas were held but the dispute could not be resolved. However, the jirga managed a truce between the two tribes which is still being honoured.

In 2003, the Jaafar Gang led by Aziz Jaafar alias Najeeb Afghani kidnapped minor boy Hamza Usman for ransom from Khiyaban-i-Sarwar with the help of maid Shehnaz. The culprits were held by Miran Shah (Waziristan) administration with the help of local jirga.

Besides, Hamza was also recovered from the custody of the arrested culprits. Aziz and his aides were jailed in Bannu, the NWFP, where the convicts were serving life-term under the law.

According to tradition, Bhirawan Mai, the mother of accused Majeed and Aziz, went to Hamza's house for pardon, but she was held on the family's report. The police jailed her on a false charge of kidnap bid.

Later, the police released Bhirawan Mai after few weeks when Hamza's family changed its previous statement against her. Accused Jalil Jaafar had threatened the district and police high-ups with taking revenge of the insult of her mother, but no steps seem to have been taken so far.

On Friday last, the Jaafar Gang had reportedly kidnapped 12 people, including two army officials, near Chamazi from a Loralai-bound bus. All the captives belonged to the Punjab. One of the kidnappers, Abdul Rehman, was killed in a shootout during chase by police. His body is still lying unclaimed at the Loralai DHQ Hospital.

The Loralai administration has not mentioned the names of 12 suspects held as of now. It is learnt that some of them belong to the law-enforcement agencies of Balochistan.

Meanwhile, the Loralai District Nazim has resigned in protest against the government for its failure to recover the abducted. A fresh search operation has been launched with the help of army to track down the outlaws and safe recovery of the passengers.