Karachi: Dacoits in Pakistan's Sindh province are yet to release a seven-year-old Hindu girl though they have freed four members of the minority community in recent days, local authorities said. The members of the minority communities have been staging the protest since September 1 over the abduction of some members of the minority community by bandits in riverine areas in southern Sindh province's Kashmore.
The Hindus were abducted at different times from mid August to early September. Dr Chand Mahar, one of the organisers of the protest said that a total of five Hindus have been kidnapped by the dacoits, including a seven-year-old Hindu girl, Priya Kumari. She was also abducted from near Sanghar. Shiva said those released include 72-year-old businessman, Mukhi Jagdish, nine-year-old boy Jaideep who were kidnapped from Kashmore city, Sagar Kumar and Oad.
Kashmore Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amjad Sheikh said the Hindus were released from captivity after negotiations with the bandits who would also release the girl soon. The head of an organisation campaigning for the cause of minority communities primarily Hindus confirmed the dacoits released four Hindus in recent days after a long sit-in protest organised in Kashmore by Hindus and other minorities against the kidnapping for ransom by the dacoits.
Unofficially many believe that the dacoits operate brazenly and take their victims to the riverine belts of the province because many of them have official patronage from some politicians and tribal leaders. Shiva Kachhi who heads the Pakistan Derawar Ittehad said that the last Hindu to be released by the dacoits is named Oad.
Sheikh said the bandits targeted their victims on the basis of their background not caste or religion as their purpose was to get handsome ransoms from families of the victims. Dacoits who operate from the riverine areas of Sindh have kidnapped around 40 people, including Hindu traders, in the last few months.
