40 bandits kidnap 7 policemen in Pak; PM orders rescue

At least seven policemen were today kidnapped by around 40 "dacoits" who stormed a police post in Pakistan's Punjab province, prompting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to order their rescue.
The incident took place in Sadiqabad area where more than three dozen armed robbers attacked the police checkpost and took the kidnapped policemen across the river, police said.
"Around 40 dacoits attacked the checkpost and kidnapped seven police officials," district police chief Sohail Zafar Chattha was quoted as saying by Geo News as saying.
The bandits have contacted police, demanding the release of their arrested aides and an end to a police operation against them in lieu of the kidnapped policemen, according to the report.

Sharif, meanwhile, has taken notice of the incident and ordered authorities to make efforts to rescue the kidnapped police personnel as soon as possible, the report said.
A strong police contingent backed by armoured personnel carriers was called in to mount an operation against the bandits and to rescue the seven policemen.

Police said they will not comply with the criminal's demands and will continue their operation against them.
Chattha said law enforcement agencies had driven bandits out of the area a few years ago but they started operating again recently, shuttling between the area and the border towns of neighbouring Sindh province.

Bandits have been active in the border areas of Sindh and Punjab provinces for decades. The military launched a full- scale operation against them in Sindh in the early 1990s but they resurfaced after successive failures to maintain law and order in the area, the report said.