Bandits kidnap three persons in Kandhkot katcha area

KANDHKOT: A gang of bandits has taken three persons hostage in katcha area and demanded ransom money for their release, ARY News reported on Saturday.

According to a report, three persons kidnapped for ransom have been natives of Bahawalpur district.

Bandits have demanded six million rupees as ransom money to release the hostages.

After recent decision of the government to launch a law enforcement operation in katcha areas, the incidents of lawlessness are frequently reported.

In a rocket explosion in katcha area of Kandhkot district last Wednesday nine people were killed including four children in a rocket shell explosion.

“A rocket exploded at a house of Shah Ali Sabzoi in Bangi Khan Sabzoi village in katcha area leaving seven people dead including four children,” local police said. “Six others were injured in the incident”.

The injured were transferred to hospitals, where two more persons including a woman succumbed to injuries soaring death toll in the incident to nine.

Caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh Maqbool Baqar while taking notice of the rocket launcher blast in katcha area of Kandhkot, summoned report from the IG Police.

“How the rocket shell reached in Sabzoi Goth. If a consignment of arms was being smuggled in katcha area,” Caretaker CM questioned the police chief.

“Are there facilitators of bandits in the village,” he further questioned. “How the rocket exploded,” the CM asked. He demanded a detailed report of the incident from the Sindh Police chief.

It is to be mentioned here that the Sindh government has decided to launch a law enforcement operation in katcha areas (riverine forests) along the Indus River in upper Sindh districts to curb activities of bandit gangs and other outlaws involved in rampant kidnapping for ransom and other crimes in the region.