The Gabbars of Ghotki

Riverine robbers’ reign of terror, CM Sindh helpless to control situation

Karachi: The sorry state of police affairs and deteriorating law and order situation in Sindh was brought to the fore when a deputy superintendent of police, two station house officers (SHOs), and two constables were killed while three others were injured as a result of an attack by at least 150 dacoits on a police camp in the riverine area of Ghotki district in the wee hours of Sunday.

According to a report, the dacoits even celebrated the killings inside the riverine area after taking away the bodies of the policemen. The bodies were returned to the police after a few hours as a result of mediation by influential people in the province. While returning the bodies, dacoit Sanaullah Shar had the cheek to say in a message, “It is our favour to the police that their bodies were not kept in possession.”

The dacoits attacked the police team to avenge the killing of dacoit Salto Shar, who was allegedly killed in an encounter with the Ghotki police in the recent past. Dacoit, Sanaullah, very openly accepted the responsibility of killing the policemen, declaring the killing as revenge for Salto Shar. In his video message shared on social media platforms, he said that the SSP was sitting in the office and he did not dare to face them.

Though the Sindh Chief Minister has refused to accept the report of SSP Dr Rizwan that the dacoits have political patronage, there cannot be two opinions about the fact that without it dacoits cannot be resourceful enough to procure such sophisticated and highly expensive weapons. Sindh Chief Minister, speaking after the incident also confirmed that robbers were even getting anti-aircraft guns from outside; whereas the Sindh police were not adequately equipped to control pockets of the national landscape which are in the control of dacoits who rule it the way they want.

Thus the ghastly Ghotki incident very appropriately reminds us of the post-traumatic situation of Ramgarh, a village in Bollywood’s blockbuster ‘Sholay’ where the villagers were frightened by the dacoit Gabbar Singh, which was evident from his famous dialogues ‘Jab bachcha raat ko rota hai to maa kahti hai beta soja… soja nahi to Gabbar Singh aa jaayega.’ Not only Ghotki, but the people of Sindh, as a whole, are enormously frightened by the incident as the killing of policemen – their protector — have made them highly insecure.

The Ghotki incident has terrified the people of Sindh very much like the inhabitants of Ramgarh who were forced to accept life under the wilderness of violence as their fate. They knew, for sure, that the dacoits would continue to dominate their village, terrorising, plundering and killing. Indeed, the residents of Sindh also have enough reasons to believe that the Sindh police force neither has the means nor the will to protect the people of Sindh and as such, they are also left with no choice but to continue to live under the atrocities of powerful dacoits.

The life of those living, especially in the districts of Ghotki, Kashmore and Shikarpur is much more miserable than the inhabitants of Ramgarh for they know, for sure, that unlike the Thakur of Ramgarh, the Chief Executive of Sindh just cannot afford to hire strong men like Jai and Veeru of Sholay, to protect them from the extreme atrocities of dacoits like Sanaullah Shar.

Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah taking serious notice of the situation rushed to Sukkur and admitted that though no area in Sindh was a no-go area, Ghotki, Kashmore and Shikarpur are difficult areas. However, he said, “We started a war against this unrest but still there are some problems in Ghotki, Kashmore and Shikarpur. However, the morale of our policemen is high and with their help, we will eliminate the dacoits.” He also confirmed that Rs 3.50 million have been sanctioned for the procurement of modern equipment and weapons.

The residents of the troubled areas of Sindh however, refuse to accept the claim of the Chief Minister to eliminate dacoits through the same police force which has been targeted by the dacoits. The continuing terror has created trauma for the people of Ghotki, Kashmore and Shikarpur which cannot be removed with the hollow claims of the chief executive of Sindh.

According to a report telecast on a local TV channel, the 35 km wide and 230 km long ‘kacha’ area has been a no-go area for the police for a long time because men from many tribes have been active. According to the police, these dacoits are heavily armed with 12.7mm anti-aircraft guns and fire at approaching law enforcement from the thick bushes. The snipers are hard to get to in the dense forest and river belt, which is the job of a specialised riverine force. The police would need bullet-proof boats to negotiate the terrain. One area is surrounded by water on three sides and others have up to ten kilometres of forest.

Meanwhile, according to reports in a high-level meeting chaired by the IG Sindh police and attended by DIG Sukkur, DIG Larkana, DPO Rahim Yar Khan, SSPs from Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Shikarpur and Kandhkot, Sindh police have decided to launch an anti-dacoit operation from three directions in the ‘kacha’ areas. The operation will be continued until the complete elimination of bandits.

It may be mentioned here that in May 2021 the Sindh government had also planned a military operation against bandit gangs in Shikarpur’s ‘kacha’ area. Provincial minister Mir Shabbir Bijarani also confirmed that the military troops and the Rangers personnel would launch an operation against bandits along with the Sindh police. But unfortunately, the operation plan never got off the drawing board.

While the Sindh Police is all set to start the operation, Karachi has been left to the mercy of dacoits, who take advantage of the riverine area, known as ‘kacha’ in local parlance, to hide from the law. Four armed robbers looted gold and cash worth millions from a jeweller shop at gunpoint on Tariq road in Karachi. The robbers took away the customers’ mobile phones and wallets as well. The jeweller claimed gold worth Rs 2 million and Rs 0.2 million cash was looted from his shop.

Earlier, the biggest-ever burglary in the current year was reported in Karachi as the unidentified dacoits looted nearly 12-kilogram gold worth more than Rs 100 million, from a jewellery shop located near Teen Talwar. Social media users lamented an increase in incidents of kidnapping for ransom and robbery in the province, several local groups of traders and religious and political parties announced a strike and protest rallies against the attack

One may safely conclude that the stories of criminal activities of dacoits from the Indus delta, generally known as ‘kacha’ in the Seraiki region and upper Sindh, always come to the limelight when incidents like Ghotki happen. Media flashes reports of ‘encounters’ between the police and robbers during a so-called ‘clean up’ operation in the region. Soon after the reports of the operation, the dacoits hibernate for a brief period to come again with greater force when the stories of their crime subside. So with time, everybody will forget the incident of Ghotki.