All 20 passengers abducted from a bus by Katcha area dacoits near Ubauro in Sindh’s Ghotki district have been recovered unharmed, the Sukkur Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) said later on Tuesday.
Around 25 dacoits had attacked the bus in Sadiqabad on Monday night and kidnapped several passengers after injuring the driver. DIG Sukkur Range, Captain (retired) Faisal Abdullah Chachar, told the media that he reached Ghotki and led a large contingent of police personnel from different stations in Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur and Kashmore, along with Rangers officials.
DIG Chachar led the joint operation with other senior officers, including Ghotki Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muhammad Anwar Khetran, Sukkur SSP Azhar Khan Mughal and Khairpur SSP Samiullah Soomro. “We rescued all hostages unharmed from the clutches of the dacoits, with whom we engaged in a gunfight,” the DIG said.
All routes leading to the Katcha area were blocked in time by police, preventing the dacoits from taking the hostages deeper into the riverine area.
Meanwhile, the rescued hostages informed the police that two dacoits were injured during the operation. When the police engaged the dacoits, police constable Safdar Chachar sustained injuries to his hand. Police moved the wounded personnel to Rahim Yar Khan Hospital for treatment.
A police spokesperson said that the operation against the dacoits is still ongoing.
When contacted, the Rahim Yar Khan district police officer that the passengers were not kidnapped in his jurisdiction but from a section of the link road going through Guddu in Sindh. “Sindh police had recovered all the hostages from the clutches of the armed dacoits,” he said. Mirpur Mathelo Deputy Superintendent of Police Abdul Qadir Soomro told the media that earlier in the day, 14 passengers were initially recovered by the Police, though one of them died of a heart attack in a sugarcane field.
“The body of the deceased hostage was moved to Ubauro Hospital, while and two injured hostages were moved to hospital for medical treatment,” he said.
An earlier statement from DIG Chacha said that 10 of the kidnapped passengers had been rescued in an overnight operation under his command.
“Police and Rangers personnel rescued 10 of the abducted passengers after an exchange of fire [with the dacoits] in Sonmiani,” the statement said.
Quoting the rescued passengers, it added that at least two dacoits were injured during the operation. “All routes leading to the Katcha area were blocked, preventing the bandits from taking the hostages there,” the statement said, adding that the blockade was still in place and would continue “until all bandits are eliminated”.
It further stated that the dacoits were being chased and “the fight with them is ongoing” for the recovery of the remaining passengers.
Meanwhile, the rescued passengers were taken to safe locations.