Another crackdown against 'gangs of south Punjab'.

LAHORE -- The riverine areas deep in Punjab's south have long been infested with gangs of criminals that keep rearing their heads, despite over a dozen large-scale operations conducted by the police in Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur districts over the last 20 years, including the much-publicised one in 2016 against the Chotu gang with the help of the army.

All the operations have apparently failed to ensure the writ of the state in the kacha areas despite the combined efforts of the provincial and federal governments over the years, as another large-scale operation has been green-lighted by the prime minister following intelligence reports of gangs resurfacing in the two districts and turning them into 'no-go areas' once again.

Under the plan, the operation would be conducted in four phases: approach, clearance, consolidation and normalisation, while reportedly the police already kicked off the first phase late on Monday.

Separately, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz approved, as a special case, emergency procurement of four armoured personnel carriers to provide logistic support to the police in the risky riverine areas to avoid casualties.

An official privy to the development told Dawn the operation was approved at a meeting the prime minister held during his last visit to Lahore on Sunday. The meeting was also attended by Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan, Additional Inspector General (South Punjab) Ehsan Sadiq, the home secretary, the DG Khan regional police officer, the district police chiefs of Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan and officers from other law enforcement agencies.

Giving a presentation, the IGP marked 5,000 square kilometres as highly risky, complicated and apparently inaccessible in both the districts that largely comprised River Indus. Several patches of the river and its banks had been beyond the control of the district and police administrations where several gangs of criminals and robbers were operating with the alleged support of elements from Sindh and Balochistan.

The Punjab Rangers and the army have been put on high alert to assist in the operation as and when required.

The official further said the IGP would supervise the entire exercise and regularly update the prime minister about the progress, while the additional IG would lead the operation. The role of local tribal leaders, the Border Military Police and facilitators of the criminals also came under discussion.

The PM was briefed that...