• Two armoured vehicles lead each convoy through high-risk stretch
• 72 dacoits with over Rs60m head money surrender in Sindh
• Over 200 weapons laid down, including G3 rifles, RPG launchers and 12.7mm anti-aircraft guns
RAHIM YAR KHAN / SUKKUR: Police in Rahim Yar Khan have started running escorted night convoys on the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) during the current week to protect motorists from Katcha dacoit gangs.
Traffic on the M-5 fell sharply after floods eroded a portion of the motorway near Jalalpur Pirwala in September, forcing many drivers to use the National Highway (N-5) instead. However, the traffic flow on M-5 rose again when one lane of the damaged stretch was restored and the motorway reopened via a diversion.
From 7pm to 6am, Rahim Yar Khan police are now halting all vehicles at the Azampur service area between Jamaldin Wali and Bhong and dispatching convoys every half an hour, led by two armoured police pickups. South-to-north traffic from the Sukkur side is escorted from the Guddu interchange to Azampur.
Police adopted the measure after the Tanvir Indhar gang kidnapped 10 people from multiple vehicles on the M-5 near Nawazabad in Sadiqabad tehsil on Sept 5. It was the first reported instance of Katcha gangs directly accessing the Sukkur-Multan Motorway within Punjab’s limits.
“It used to feel like the safest way to travel,” motorist Muhammad Shahid, who drove from Rahim Yar Khan to Rohri, told Dawn. “Now there’s uncertainty,” he lamented, adding that he waited about half an hour at Azampur and then crawled along with the convoy to Guddu interchange.
He added that once the limits of Sindh start, there were no convoys from Guddu to Sukkur, though Sindh police and another law enforcement agency were patrolling.
Another frequent traveller between Sukkur and Lahore said he felt uneasy on parts of the M-5, particularly between Iqbalabad and Rohri interchanges. He described Jahanpur Jungle near Qutub Din Shah service area as “the most frightening stretch where I felt extreme fear”.
RYK police spokesperson Zeeshan Randhawa told Dawn the force was concerned about the safety of lives and property and had deployed bulletproof vehicles and trained personnel “equipped with modern weapons” to move traffic in convoys through high-risk areas.
Insisting that operations against robbers were ongoing, he said, “Once the area is safe, traffic will run as usual rather than in convoys.”
Ghotki SSP Anwar Khaitran told Dawn that Sindh Police had briefly used convoys in January and February last year, but now relied on temporary pickets and heavy patrolling.
“Eight Sindh Police vehicles and eight Rangers vehicles are always on the M-5, in addition to National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) units,” he said.
He added that the NHMP had written to the Punjab IG recommending convoys, but Sindh had addressed the risk through “extensive patrolling”.
SSP Khaitran stressed that government had to adopt a long-term strategy to find a permanent solution and eliminate the Katcha criminals. For this purpose, Katcha areas would be converted into Pacca areas by developing riverine areas and denying cover to criminals, he said.
Dacoits surrender
Separately, more than 70 wanted bandits surrendered under the Sindh government’s ‘Surrender Policy 2025’ at the Shikarpur SSP office on Wednesday, laying down over 200 weapons.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon, senior Rangers officers and local PPP leaders attended the ceremony.
Mr Lanjar praised the police, Rangers and cooperating tribal elders and paid tribute to the martyred officers.
Addressing the surrendering men, the minister said, “You’ve taken a commendable step. Serve your sentences and return as law-abiding citizens.”
He urged remaining gangs to accept the policy, saying it would unlock support for families in Katcha areas — from Benazir Income Support stipends to roads, schools, healthcare, veterinary services and land for homeless farmers.
Warning those still at large, he said: “Surrender, or you will be eliminated inside your hideouts.”
IGP Memon said law and order in Sindh was gradually improving. Kidnapping for ransom, a decades-long scourge, had “almost ended”, he claimed, citing a sustained crackdown since the so-called “Honey Trap Operation” began in 2012.
He said 171 dacoits had been killed and 421 captured injured during police operations.
Rangers’ Sector Commander highlighted joint operations in Katcha and pledged continued support.
DIG Larkana Nasir Aftab said the term “Katcha” had become synonymous with kidnapping and extortion, but coordinated action by police, Rangers and intelligence agencies had shifted the balance.
He said 282 suspects had applied to surrender; more than 70 approvals were issued, along with the deposit of 209 weapons at Wednesday’s ceremony.
Surrendered weapons included 62 G-3 rifles, 97 SMGs, 48 double-barrel shotguns, two RPG-7 launchers, an anti-tank RR-75 and a 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun. Authorities said the combined head money on the surrendered men exceeded Rs60 million.
According to police, several operations had been conducted, including in Garhi Tegho (where 107 hostages were rescued over five months), Kot Shaho, Jagan, Kalhoro (Madeji) and Bagarji (Sukkur).
In Operation Bachal Bhayo, notorious dacoit Shero Mahar was killed.
Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2025
