Seven cops including SHO were killed,15 injured by Chhoto gang during operation "Zarb-i-aahan"

MULTAN, April 13th: Station House Officer of Police Station Bunglow Iccha (Rajanpur) and six policemen including a head constable were killed and 15 injured  by the gangsters on Wednesday. DPO Rajanpur Ghulam Mubashar Maiken said that three cops of them were identified as Qazi Abdullah, Amaullah and Muhammad Ajmal of elite force during operation "Zarb-i-aahan". e further said that "Chhoto gang" was armed with advanced weaponry including  anti-aircraft guns, Indian-made Vikras automatic and machine guns.  Law enforcing agencies failed to smash the organised gang in the border  area of Balochistan-Sindh and Punjab .The injured  were shifted to Sheikh Zaid Hospital Rahimyar Khan on Wednesday afternoon.DPO Rajanpur said that 16 cops were made hostages by the Chhoto gang of criminals  backed by terror outfits and anti-state elements during the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Aahan in Kacha Jamal area of Rajanpur district ,Police said. Punjab Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Sukhera visited the troubled area one day before and reviewed pace of the ongoing operation along with media teams . Members of notorious Chhoto gang are among the felons fighting the security personnel. However, 1,600 personnel belonging to Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Rangers, army and Punjab Police have cleared around 70 percent area of katcha ( riverine) area while more than 50 check-posts have been established. Security forces carrying out a joint operation in the riverine area of Rajanpur got a final nod on Tuesday for air strikes to hit the gangsters hiding in a 10km-long piece of tract surrounded by water. Rajanpur police requested Punjab IG Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera to provide them two military helicopters for the strikes. The forces also offered the gangsters to surrender before the air strikes.A senior police official privy to the development told  that law enforcement agencies had halted the ground operation against the hardened criminals for the time being to avoid collateral damage.“The forces have made last announcements asking women, children and other people to evacuate the island,” he said, adding that hundreds of people, mostly families of the gangsters, had been living in the island bordering Sindh and Balochistan for decades.The official said police, Rangers, Elite Force commandos and Counter-Terrorism Department personnel were taking part in the operation, codenamed Zarb-i-Aahan.Mushtaq Sukhera, the Punjab police chief, visited frontline checkposts on Tuesday to review the operational strategy. He was accompanied by police officers from Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, DPOs and senior officials of Rangers.“The mortar attack by Rangers has given a visible support to police against the gangsters,” the IG said.According to a handout, he said the fight against the ‘evil elements’ of society had entered a final phase and security forces would eliminate them soon.