PTI Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhary said they way seven policemen were abducted from a police checkpoint near Rahim Yar Khan proves that Punjab Government has failed to establish writ of the Government in South Punjab. He said Chotu Mazari gang has established a state within a state in the riverine areas of Indus River but still neither Punjab nor Sindh Government has been able to tackle them.
He said Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident but has a record of doing nothing besides taking notices after every incident. He said the writ of the state means enforcing the general will of the people. He said a full-fledged operation is needed in the riverine areas of Indus River to regain control from those who challenge the supremacy of the state.
Secretary General Yasmin said it seems police and Punjab Government is helpless in front of these criminals. She said people living in riverine areas of Indus River still lack basic facilities thus they have no other option but to join criminals. She said ChotuMazari gang had close links with dacoits in interior Sindh. If prompt action is not taken against ChotuMazari gang she fears South Punjab would become another interior Sindh. She said Shabaz Sharif appeared spineless in establishing its legitimate authority in riverine areas of South Punjab. She said Shabaz Sharif is ready to spend billions on safe city project in Lahore where surveillance cameras would be installed in the provincial capital but he is least interested with the security of the poor people of South Punjab.
Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas this is not the first time police officials have been held captive by the Chhotu Mazari gang on the islands of the Indus. She said an army of dacoits and kidnappers lives in floodplains of the Indus near Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan districts. She said the lawlessness prevalent in the riverine areas along the Indus in South Punjab is due to poverty and lack of education. Shabaz Sharif is fueling 80 percent resources of the Punjab on building roads and metros in large cities while he has no budget for the uplift of poor people of South Punjab she added.
She demanded that Punjab Government should take firm action to purge the area of criminal gangs in order to provide security to the people of South Punjab and establish writ of the Government.