Visibly distraught at the loss of their own, hardened criminals join hands with only one agenda: vengeance. Sharpening daggers, the syndicate drop off an ultimatum at the enemy’s camp, which basically pulls the carpet out from under everyone’s feet and a chaotic dispersal ensues. The thrilling scenes would be a perfect fit to the over-the-top Bollywood gangster genre and, if punctuated with a few cheesy dialogues, might even fare well at the box office. But alas! this is no fiction. The syndicate had united under the BLA umbrella in the underbelly of southern Punjab, the belt notorious for gang wars and the apathetically helpless law enforcement officers. It is their unforgivable crime of performing their duty that has landed personnel of not one, not two but six police stations of Rajanpur on the deadly radar. That someone wearing the state uniform is petrified at very public announcements of rocket launchers and mortars inscribed with their death warrants is all the evidence we need to pack up state institutions and leave the ground open for these gangsters. Back in 2016, the Punjab Police had hit the headlines over struggling to contain a threat that had emerged out of nowhere. Killing 10 of the police officers and capturing another 25, the Chotu Gang has metastasised to the level that assistance needed to be sought from the military and Rangers. While the 175 notorious men had surrendered in the wake of a determined operation then, their success in creating fury and furore encouraged many others to step forward. Six years later, we are still struggling in establishing the writ of the land so that we can shut the doors on terrorism. Just this month, at least 150 dacoits attacked a police camp in the Ghotki riverine area. The Katcha area is becoming increasingly notorious for highway robberies and cases of abduction. That the evil forces love to make a spectacle of their power by targeting ill-prepared police teams cannot be ignored anymore. May it be Rahimyar Khan or Rajanpur, neither logistics nor terrain should be allowed to blindside the law enforcement agencies as they pull their socks up and create an effective resistance against these gangs. Five months were more than enough for the state machinery to seriously consider the blueprint of “approach, clearacne, consolidation and normalisation” rubberstamped by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a bid to cleanse the Southern Punjab of these well-armed, violent criminals. If starring in shameful hostage videos on their official social media handles is the only purpose police stations and pickets in this belt are serving, the best way out would be to call it quits and let the warlords be the actual authority. After all, a functional, sovereign country would never let a handful of riffraffs call the shots. *