The Katcha belt along the Indus has always been a battlefield—not of armies, but of police forces and criminal gangs who know the forests, river channels, and mudflats like the back of their hand.
In Sindh, the police have slowly turned the tide. Equipped with drones that not only watch but strike and tracked armored carriers that glide across mud and sand, they now chase gangs with technology once reserved for armies. Drones with thermal cameras spot outlaws hiding in thickets. Some even drop small mortars on their hideouts. Criminals who once ruled with rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns now face a new enemy in the sky.
Punjab, meanwhile, still struggles. Its police enter the Katcha with outdated vehicles and surveillance-only drones. More often than not, wheeled armored carriers get stuck in mud, leaving officers vulnerable. In one such tragic incident, criminals ambushed stranded police, inflicting heavy losses.
While Sindh’s Kashmore and Shikarpur districts each field nearly 18 modern APCs, Punjab’s Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan have barely five each—only three of them tracked. Despite recent approval for four new carriers, the gap remains wide.
For now, Punjab is building posts, laying tracks, and preparing for what it calls a “massive operation.” But in the unforgiving terrain of the Katcha, criminals are still a step ahead—better armed, better hidden, and far more confident.
And unless Punjab catches up with Sindh’s technological edge, the battle for the Katcha will remain unfinished.