Latest news with #Jatoi
Express Tribune
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
12 rescued from Katcha robbers' lair
Police entered the dacoit-infested thickets in the riverine area of Sukkur to safely recover 12 kidnapped persons from the lair of most wanted criminal gang after a fierce gun battle. A large-scale operation launched on the directives of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to dismantle criminal networks in the riverine (Katcha) areas, specifically targeting dacoits and hardened criminals, began on May 12. The initiative led to the rescue of 12 kidnapped individuals from their captors. The operation continued into May 13 in the Bagarji Katcha area of Sukkur, where police faced intense resistance. Armed with sophisticated weaponry, including 12.7 mm machine guns, G3 rifles, submachine guns (SMGs), hand grenades, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), the dacoits launched a fierce retaliation. Despite heavy fire, police forces destroyed several hideouts and arrested key suspects during the encounters. The difficult terrain of the Katcha region further complicated the operation. The dacoits had dug trenches to obstruct the movement of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), and the dense forest limited police mobility. However, law enforcement pressed forward undeterred. The scale of the operation was considerable. It involved significant personnel and equipment, including five APCs, two from the IG pool, two from Ghotki, and one from Sukkur, as well as surveillance drones providing real-time aerial monitoring. The operation was led by SSP Sukkur Azhar Khan and SSP Khairpur Hassan Sardar and included 100 police personnel, six Station House Officers (SHOs), and two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs). Among the notable achievements of the operation was the destruction of hideouts belonging to the notorious dacoit Rajab Jatoi. Although Jatoi managed to escape, his base was reportedly reduced to ashes. Six dacoits were injured in the operation, including Salamo Jatoi, cousin of the infamous Kashmir Jatoi, one suspected member of the Teghani gang, and four unidentified members of the Rahimo Phulpoto and Jatoi gangs. The 12 rescued hostages included nine from Khairpur and three from Sukkur. Acting on the directives of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, police in Sukkur and Khairpur launched this decisive offensive. "The protection of citizens' lives and property is the top priority of the provincial government, and any negligence in this regard will not be tolerated," the chief minister said. He reaffirmed the government's commitment to upholding the rule of law and urged citizens to report any suspicious activity to the authorities. Budget meeting for next fiscal year CM Murad has initiated budget meetings to finalise development proposals and allocations for the next financial year. In this regard, two separate meetings of the Finance Department and the Planning and Development Department were held at CM House on Wednesday. These meetings were attended by Minister P&D Nasir Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, PSCM Agha Wasif, Chairman P&D Najam Shah, Secretary Finance Fayaz Jatoi, Special Secretary Finance Asghar Memon, and Member P&D Fatah Tunio. The CM stressed on reducing non-development expenditures, increasing allocations for development projects, like K-IV water supply, Shahrah-e-Bhutto Expressway, and transport schemes in Karachi. CM Murad, UNICEF representative meet CM Murad met with UNICEF Representative Abdullah A. Fadil to discuss collaborative development plans. They reviewed the current two-year workplan (2023-2024) covering health, nutrition, education, child protection, WASH, and other sectors. Key initiatives include, $5.5 million project for maternal, neonatal, and child health services, Rs17.5 million project for improving nutrition and early childhood development, $3.2m program for policy reforms and child protection mechanisms, $7m partnership to reduce out-of-school children and enhance teacher skills, and $16.8m initiative for climate-resilient water and sanitation infrastructure.
Express Tribune
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Freedom eludes anti-PPP alliance leader
As freedom from incarceration eludes Grand Democratic Alliance's leader Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, three bails from as many courts on Monday in addition to an earlier order of Sindh High Court failed to secure his release from the jail custody. The former federal minister after his discharge from Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, on Monday was sent back to Nara Jail as a civil judge and judicial magistrate of Sukkur district granted his 14-day judicial remand in a hitherto unknown case. Confusion prevailed while his discharge card was being prepared at the hospital with some sources insinuating about continuity of his imprisonment on judicial remand and others suggesting that he might be set free. He was admitted to the LUH on February 22 with complaints of chest pain. Earlier, Larkana's Additional District and Session Judge Rashid Ali Dayo granted bails to Jatoi in two separate FIRs registered at Badeh and Dokri police stations. Ahsan Hyder Shah Syed, Additional District and Session Judge in Khairpur, also approved his bail in an FIR lodged at Hingroja police station. These FIRs contain sections like 324, 353, 148, 149, 216A, 109, 506/2, 353, 224 and 402 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and 24 of Sindh Arms Act (SAA). The charges include attempt to murder, obstructing government officials from performing duty and robbery, among others. Interestingly, his remand has been given even though Sindh High Court Larkana Circuit on February 20 had barred the Sindh police from arresting Jatoi in any new case except those three cases in which he has already been taken into custody. These included the two FIRs in Larkana and one of a murder case registered at Moro police station in Noushehro Feroze district. The Anti Terrorism Court of Noushehro Feroze on February 20 had also granted bail to Jatoi in the murder case. The GDA leader's wife, Naveen Jatoi, has time and again blamed Pakistan Peoples Party's Sindh government for framing her husband in fabricated cases in order to pressurize their family. She alleged that political opposition to the PPP's leadership and agricultural lands are the obvious causes behind his arrest. "It appears that the accused isn't nominated in the FIR with specific allegation or role," reads the judicial remand order given by a civil judge and judicial magistrate of Sukkur on Monday. "However, it appears that the accused is implicated through further statements of the complainant under section 162 of CrPC." His jail custody has been approved till March 9. "It is an admitted fact that the name of the accused [Jatoi] isn't mentioned in the FIR or even in the challan," observed senior lawyer Sajjad Ahmed Chandio while talking to The Express Tribune. "And when the case is under trial then it's the prerogative of the concerned trial court to add or exempt/acquit any person as accused." He was referring to the civil judge's remand order.
Express Tribune
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Family not allowed to meet Jatoi despite court orders
The family of former federal minister and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) leader Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi has complained that they are not being allowed to meet Jatoi who is kept in Nara Jail, Hyderabad, in violation of the court's order. Naveen Jatoi, wife of the GDA leader, said while talking to The Express Tribune that her husband's implication even in an FIR of motorbike snatching has made it evident that Pakistan Peoples Party's government is victimising political opponents. Jatoi was arrested on February 18 while returning from a court in Noushehro Feroze district in connection with a murder FIR lodged at Moro police station in Noushehro Feroze last year. He and his son Bilawal Jatoi were charged with planning to kill Bilawal Zardari on the election day on February 8, 2024. Meanwhile, his arrest was also declared in two more cases, registered at Dokri and Badah police stations in Larkana, under sections 324, 353, 148, 149, 216A, and 402. However, on Thursday, the Sindh High Court Larkana Circuit barred the Sindh police from arresting Jatoi in any new case except for three cases in which he has already been taken into custody. The order was given following a petition filed by Naveen Jatoi. On the same day, the Anti Terrorism Court in Noushehro Feroze granted him bail in the murder FIR. "If the petitioner's husband isn't shown to be arrested in the three impugned FIRs, he shall not be arrested," ordered justice Muhammad Saleem Jessar and justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon. The bench also ordered the Sindh police to submit a complete record of all the FIRs registered or pending against the GDA leader. Separately, during the hearing before the ATC judge, advocate Muhammad Ayaz Mari, who represented the FIR's complainant, cited the prohibitory clause to argue against grant of bail to the ex-federal minister. "A court of law can't dismiss bail on the sole ground that the alleged offence is falling within the ambit of the prohibitory clause, but it has to consider the available material and then decide [whether] the matter is of further inquiry or not?" observed the ATC judge Hafiz Misbahuddin Phulpoto. The court granted him bail against two solvent sureties of Rs100,000 each but with a note of caution for the 'accused' to remain careful in future. Jatoi's wife expressed hope that they will also secure bail in other cases from Larkana-based court. Political hostilities Naveen contended that President Asif Ali Zardari himself is behind his husband's arrest. "Antagonism is decades old. Zardari had faced election defeat from Ghulam Mustafa Khan Jatoi [former caretaker Prime Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and father Murtaza Jatoi] in 1993." She claimed that a majority of the towering political figures from across Sindh have bowed down before Zardari but her husband continues to resist his tentacles. According to her, Jatoi was invited to join the PPP after his father's death in 2009. She said some years back he was again approached either to join the party or leave politics. She went on to blame men allegedly supported by the ruling party for attempting to occupy their agricultural land in Keti Jatoi in two separate attempts which stood foiled. "Zardari won elections through rigging," she alleged. "The people of Noushehro Feroez and Nawabshah are not with them." Jatoi underwent a cardiac procedure last year. His wife was worried that his medicines, which were handed over to the prison staff of Nara Jail, have been given to him or not. On Thursday the court expressed dismay over the transfer of Jatoi to a prison in Hyderabad in violation of the court order to shift him to a jail hospital in Noushehro Feroze. The jail superintendent was also slapped with a minor punishment of keeping him seated in the court until the judge left.
Express Tribune
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
GDA leader Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi arrested
KARACHI: Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) leader Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi was arrested in Noushehro Feroze district on Monday, which the GDA and nationalist parties term political victimization. Jatoi was rounded up when he was returning from the court, where he managed to secure bail in an FIR of police encounter. Hundreds of policemen intercepted him outside the court and told him that he was being arrested in another FIR lodged in Moro taluka of Nourshehro Feroze. He was, however, later shifted to B-Section police station in Shaheed Benazirabad district instead of being taken to the police station in Moro where he was booked. The police claimed that the Anti Terrorism Court had issued non-bailable warrants for Jatoi on February 12 in an FIR of attacking the polling station Ali Baksh Jatoi in Moro on the day of the general elections last year. A man was killed and three were injured in that alleged assault. Nawan Jatoi town in Noushehro Feroze, a stronghold of Jatois, was shut down in reaction to his arrest. "I am being forced to bow down through such fake cases but I won't," said Jatoi while talking to the media after he was arrested.
