SUKKUR, July 31: Some armed dacoits opened fire on a wagon and looted passengers on the Indus Highway near Sarkari Wah, some 20 kms from Sukkur, on Wednesday.

The dacoits deprived the passengers of their cash, wristwatches, and jewellry.

Earlier on Tuesday, a man, Mohammed Bashir, a resident of Lahore, was killed in the same area when dacoits opened fire on a wagon coming from Shikarpur.

The wagon and bus drivers told journalists that the police was well aware about the dacoits who were operating between Lakhi and Shikarpur, but were not ready to take action against the outlaws as the influential people of the area were said to be shielding the dacoits.

It must be mentioned here that the Indus Highway between Sukkur and Shikarpur has become extremely unsafe these days as not a day went by last week when passengers and drivers were not looted by dacoits.

The dacoits looted several buses, trucks, cars, and other vehicles every day last week.

The truck and bus drivers staged a demonstration and blocked the Indus Highway in protest for several hours a few days ago against the highway robberies.

Senior police officials came and assured them that the police would provide them complete safety during their journey but these assurances were never fulfilled.

VILLAGER KILLED: A man, Behram, was killed and his friend injured when they were hit by an oil tanker near the Naper village, some 30 kms from Sukkur, on Wednesday.

Convicted: The judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court-III, Sukkur and Larkana division, convicted Amir Ali, Ghulam Qadir and Arbab Ali of a motorcycle robbery and awarded them 25-year rigorous imprisonment and Rs80,000 fine each.

If the convicts failed to pay the fine, they will undergo an imprisonment of nine more years.