An influential landlord and his supporters have been found involved in the protests being carried out at Thatta-Hyderabad road near Chato Chand for the past two weeks.
A thorough inquiry conducted by local police revealed that hundreds of people belonging to different areas of Chato Chand portraying themselves as flood victims protest daily on the main Hyderabad-Thatta road armed with sticks and stones. Owing to their violent protest the traffic remains suspended for hours, causing constant agony to the transporters as well as the general public. District Commissioner Thatta Mr Ghaznafar Ali Qadiri and SSP Thatta Adeel Chandio formed a committee to launch a probe into the matter after constant complaints of insurgency in the area.
The local SHO said that after the hostile protest of Sunday morning in which the unruly goons masquerading as flood-affected protesters caused damage to vehicles after which police decided to launch a probe into the whole episode. The inquiry by local police found that the protests were not by the flood-affected but henchmen of a local landlord who used them as an element to deceive district administration and extract relief goods from local philanthropists as well as social organizations.
“Some of them are henchmen of a local feudal lord, Hanif Soomro, while others are hired by him to execute a well-planned strategy to pressurize the state machinery, taking advantage of the flood emergency,” said a spokesperson of Thatta police. He further said that the same feudal lord was involved in the occupation of state land and the land of riverine areas and he has the backing of local politicians.
After a detailed inquiry report was submitted SSP Thatta Adeel Chandio ordered lodging a FIR against Hanif Sommro and his supporters under sections 147, 148, 149, 427 and 403 of Pakistan Penal code 1860. SSP Thatta in this regard said that the police would get to those who plotted the conspiracy to hoodwink state institutions.
