Daily Times

SHIKARPUR: Dacoits are involved in looting and committing heinous crimes like highway robberies’, targeted dacoities, kidnapping for ransom, and other sort of crimes owing to which law and order situation always remained deteriorate in Sindh especially in Northern Sindh.

Now questions arise who are dacoits? Who creates them? What are the motives behind the creation of dacoits? Who supports them? Why their era is not eliminating despite several raids carried out by law enforcement agencies in Sindh particularly in northern Sindh.

Naveed Alam Abro and Zahid Bhanbhro, the human rights activists, were their opinions that there are three types of dacoits first of all dacoit creates due to injustice of society while deadly disputes are playing most important role to create dacoits because owing to deadly disputes rival tribesmen could not able to earn freely and then who resorted to crime and involved in committing robberies for their livelihood aftermath influential tribesmen of the area also support them by giving them protection and other material sources in across Sindh.

Secondly, innocent people accustomed to taking weapons into their hands at the condition of compulsion due to police and tribal lord’s atrocities’ against them including registering fabricated cases without any solid reason due to which who involved in crimes for taking revenge from police and tribal lords.

Third and last, criminals or dacoits are also contracting owing to poverty and unemployment; it was learnt in northern Sindh, both said.

Nasim Bukhari, a prominent writer, said that dacoits had involved in looting wealthy persons and who accustomed to taking care of children, old age person and especially women during robbery so that in order not to loot to women and also used to help the poor women in past, but nowadays dacoits are looting everybody in what who found easily.

According to a police officer, requesting anonymity, said that local feudal lords and local politicians are found involved in supporting to bandits for maintaining their domination over their area they accustomed to using dacoits and criminals to occupy public and private lands and taking help during elections due to which who support them [dacoits] and revealed dacoits could not survive without their support.

In past, two honorable Judges including one Additional Sessions Judge and one Judge had also been kidnapped by a few notorious dacoits near Garhi Yasin in December 2004 when who were returning from Larkana, who were remain detain in jungle for two month.

Amanullah Tunio, who carried head money of Rs 2 million, was allegedly involved in murdering of two Rangers personnel, including Deputy Superintendent of Rangers [DSR] Abdul Jabbar Abbasi near Garhi Yasin taluka of district Shikarpur in June 2015, was killed in police encounter in Shikarpur.

Naziro Narejo, a famous notorious dacoit carried head money of Rs20 million, was killed in police encounter at katcha area of Madeji Town of Shikarpur district, he was famous for giving shelter to other notorious dacoits in northern Sindh.

After implementation of National Action Plan [NAP] law enforcement agencies controlled over the situation and crime rate has been reduced, but after a while five persons were kidnapped in one week of December of 2017 from Shikarpur and four persons were kidnapped in same period from Kandhkot-Kashmore district and later all of released which was alarming condition for law and order. The Katcha area of Shikarpur, Kashmore, Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur and other districts has always played a role of safe haven for dacoits and outlaws.

Shikarpur Police Chief Umar Tufail attended a high level meeting held at Larkana to vacate the katcha area from the clutches of the dacoits so that law and order situation could be maintained, but after passage of 2 to 3 months no progress yet to be seen. Due to police pressure two and half dozen dacoits and criminal laid down their weapons and surrendered themselves before police to quit criminal activities in Kashmore and Kandhkot district in January 2018 and joined mainstream.

Government of Sindh and human rights organisations should play their role to provide sustainable justice, employment and education so that youth could concentrate on education for larger interests of the people of the province.

Published in Daily Times, February 8^th 2018.