Eight dacoits involved in the attack on a passenger bus and the abduction of passengers have been killed in a joint operation by police and Rangers in the riverine katcha area of Ghotki district, officials said.
Officials said the operation entered its sixth consecutive day, with more than two dozen abductees safely recovered so far.
On December 16, unidentified assailants opened fire on a passenger bus in the Murid Shakh area of Kashmore district, abducting 19 passengers travelling from Sadiqabad to Quetta, police said.
The incident is part of a wider pattern of crime in the katcha areas of northern Sindh, where kidnappings for ransom have increasingly been reported.
The operation, under the supervision of DIG Sukkur Faisal Abdullah Chachar, is being conducted in the Katcha Karachi, Katcha Rajwani and Katcha Razi areas, where the suspects had taken refuge.
Dacoit Chhalu Bukrani
Police said a key suspect, Chhalu Bukrani, who carried a Rs5 million head money, was killed during the operation. According to police, Bukrani was the leader of the Bukrani gang and a close associate of another wanted criminal, Tanveer Andhar.
During the operation, police and Rangers accessed multiple hideouts used by the dacoits, recovering stolen goods and weapons. Police said weapons recovered included Kalashnikovs, G-3 rifles and a large quantity of ammunition.
Read: 10 rescued after gunmen abduct 19 from passenger bus in Kashmore
Police said increased pressure during the operation forced several suspects to abandon their hideouts and flee. More than a dozen bunker-like hideouts have been destroyed so far.
Armoured vehicles, heavy police contingents from the Sukkur and Larkana divisions, and surveillance drones are being used in the operation.
Police and Rangers have sealed the area by establishing pickets on entry and exit routes, adding that the operation would continue until remaining suspects were apprehended and the riverine area cleared of explosives.
