Murad hints at launching operation against bandits involved in kidnapping for ransom

KARACHI:  Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to conduct a ruthless and vigorous operation against bandits in slum areas of Sukkur and Larkana division where the cases of kidnapping for ransom are on the rise.He took this decision on Thursday while going through police reports filed in his secretariat and calling Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah and Home Secretary Kazi Kabir to discuss the proposed operation with them, directing them to summon a law and order meeting so that the planning and strategy for the operation could be finalized. The chief minister said that kidnapping for ransom was a heinous crime and could not be tolerated. In the slums of Larkana, Sukkur, Khairpur up to Nawabshah, some bandits have established their hideouts and through the outlaws operating in the cities, were engaged in kidnapping innocent people, he said.He said that operation would not confine to the slums from Shaheed Benazirabad to Kashmore but it would be directed towards the facilitators of dacoits. Through the operation all the history-sheeter, head money bearer and other outlaws would be directed, he said. The chief minister said that he was convening a high-level law and order meeting within the next few days to finalize strategy for the proposed operation in consultation with IG Police and other concerned officers.The chief minister has already directed IG Police to recover the kidnapped people from the clutches of the dacoits. “I would not tolerate emergence of dacoit factor in the province once again,” he said. Shah said that the law and order all over Sindh was satisfactory but the newly emerged issue of kidnapping for ransom and street crime in Karachi has become a new challenge. The Additional IG Karachi was working to crush street criminals while the operation against bandits in Northern and Central parts of Sindh was need of hour. The targeted operation launched against drug peddlers, terrorists and other outlaws is going on successfully in which police, rangers and intelligence agencies are working hard, the chief minister said and added that a similar operation was on the cards against dacoits in slums. De-watering and Fumigation: The chief minister has directed Commissioner Karachi to keep an on eye on low lying areas where rain water has accumulated and get it de-watered at the earliest. He also directed the commissioner to start fumigation in the city. The cleaning of nalas and leaving their garbage along the roads have produced flies and mosquitoes in the city. “This is bound to spared diseases, therefore it must be controlled by launching fumigation drive,” he said. MD water board through a report told the chief minister that suction machine mounted on a truck was installed at Shahrah-e-Faisal at Gora Kabristan and pumped out water accumulated there. Another such vehicle drained out water from the main road at JPMC.Weather warning: The rehabilitation department has issued a weather warning on Thursday which say that the regional Met Center Karachi has issued weather warnings and has forecasted that the prevailing spell of rain in Sindh is very likely to intensify in next 24 hour, producing moderate to heavy rains in Sindh particularly in Karachi, Thatta, Jasmhoro, dadu, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Naushehroferoze, badin, sanghar and Larkana Districts during Thursday evening to Friday evening.Karachi: The weather warning said that in Karachi due to heavy rainfall in the range between 50 to 70 mm (during 1600/Thu-1200PST/Friday) the situation of urban flooding in Karachi may further be aggravated on Friday.