Dacoits open fire on Quetta-bound bus, helicopters deployed in ongoing rescue efforts
Unidentified assailants opened fire on a passenger bus in Murid Shakh area of Kashmore, Sindh, kidnapping more than 25 passengers traveling from Sadiqabad to Quetta.
The attackers stopped the bus on Monday around 11:30 p.m. near Guddu Interchange along Guddu Kashmore Link Road. Confirming the incident, Shoaib Lehri, owner of Sadabahar Transport Company, said men, women and children were on board, adding that the attackers separated the passengers before kidnapping them.
According to eyewitnesses, around fifteen armed men attacked the bus, injuring the driver, before taking the kidnapped passengers to the neighboring Katcha district.
Police and Rangers launched a search operation, which led to the recovery of 10 passengers kidnapped after an exchange of fire in Sonmiani, Balochistan. Captain (retd) of DIG Sukkur Faisal Abdullah Chachar confirmed the identities of some recovered passengers: Muhammad Irfan, Lal Khan and Zulfiqar Ali from Rahim Yar Khan, Feroz Khan from Muzaffargarh, and Kareem Bakhsh and Syed Ali Imad.
DIG Chachar said that during the encounter, a few dacoits were injured. He noted that dense fog and sugarcane crops in the Katcha region complicate search operations, which continue with all available resources, including helicopters.
Read: Student from Mdressah allegedly kidnapped by Katcha Dacoits
The families of the other abducted passengers have been contacted by the transport company. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
This event constitutes another link in the growing wave of crime in the Katcha regions of northern Sindh, where kidnappings for ransom are increasingly common. Demands are being made for the government to take measures to ensure the safety of passengers traveling on Katcha roads.
