At least 10 policemen, including a police inspector, were killed and 24 taken into hostage by the Chotu Gang in the riverine Katcha area in Rajanpur on Wednesday.
According to police, a 30-member police team led by DSP Sadar Asif Rasheed and SHO Bangla Acha Hanif Ghouri launched an operation to enter the area of Chhotu Gang when the gangsters opened fire on the police party.
Resultantly, SHO Bangla Acha police Hanif Ghouri and head constable Muhammad Ajmal, constables Muhammad Tanvir, Muhammad Tariq, Qazi Faheem, Amanullah, Zabihullah and three others were killed. The remaining 20 policemen were taken hostage by the gangsters.
With the operation Zarb-e-Aahan entering into 16th day and 1,600 cops taking part in it, no member of the Chotu Gang has so far been apprehended.
Reports suggest that the gangsters have demanded police for a safe passage while contacting through wireless set seized by the abducted cops.
Kachi Jamal area is believed to be a bastion of Chotu Gang that borders Dera Bugti in Balochistan.
Of late, police and paramilitary Rangers mounted an offensive against criminal gangs in the lawless Katcha areas of Punjab that border Sindh and Balochistan.
The miscreants in the difficult-to-access area have nexus with banned outfits and have long been committing robberies and kidnappings, and go into hiding.