Dacoits open fire on Quetta-bound bus and helicopters are deployed in ongoing rescue effort
Unidentified assailants opened fire on a passenger bus in Murid Shakh area of Kashmore, Sindh and kidnapped more than 25 passengers traveling from Sadiqabad to Quetta.
The attackers stopped the bus around 11.30 pm on Monday near Guddu junction along Guddu Kashmore Link Road. Confirming the incident, Sadabahar transport company owner Shoaib Lehri said there were men, women and children on board, adding that the attackers separated the passengers before kidnapping them.
According to eyewitnesses, around 15 armed men attacked the bus and injured the driver before taking the kidnapped passengers to the nearby Katcha area.
Police and rangers launched a search operation which resulted in the recovery of 10 passengers kidnapped after an exchange of fire in Sonmiani, Balochistan. DIG Sukkur Captain (retd) Faisal Abdullah Chachar confirmed the identities of some recovered passengers: Muhammad Irfan, Lal Khan and Zulfiqar Ali of Rahim Yar Khan, Feroz Khan of Muzaffargarh and Kareem Bakhsh and Syed Ali Imad.
DIG Chachar said that during the encounter some robbers were injured. He noted that the dense fog and sugar cane crops in the Katcha area complicate the search operation, which continues with all available means, including helicopters.
Read: Madressah student allegedly kidnapped by Katcha robbers
The transportation company is contacting the families of the remaining kidnapped passengers. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
This is another link in the rising wave of crime in the Katcha areas of northern Sindh, where kidnappings for ransom are increasingly common. The government is required to take measures to ensure the safety of passengers traveling on Katcha routes.
