Chotu gang was a Pakistani

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

that engaged in

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

and other criminal activities led by Ghulam Rasool who goes by the alias, "Chotu." The gang was based in the Kacha area of

Rajanpur Rajanpur ( ur, ), is a city and the headquarters of Rajanpur District in the far southwestern part of Punjab, Pakistan. The district lies entirely west of the Indus River. it is a narrow, to wide strip of land sandwiched between the Indus Riv ...

. This gang was involved in many crimes in areas surrounding areas of the Rajanpur. The gang was also known for abducting people from

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

and

Rahim Yar Khan Rahim Yar Khan () is a city in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 9th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is the capital of the Rahim Yar Khan District and Rahim Yar Khan Tehsil. The administration of the city is subdivided into nin ...

. Punjab police conducted multiple operations against them, all of them ending in smoke. Punjab police held first operation in 2010, that continued for three months without getting the required results. Punjab police also held an operation in 2013. The gang used light and heavy weapons procured from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, including an

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

Operation Zarb-e-Ahan

In April, the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

launched an operation named Zarb-e-Ahan against Chotu gang. Resources said that previously four operations launched against Chotu gang were all successful on a small scale. The gangsters had put up a fierce resistance and indiscriminately fired on the law enforcers, killing 7 and kidnapping 18, including the

SHO Sho, Shō or SHO may refer to: Music * ''Shō'' (instrument) (笙), a Japanese wind instrument * ''Kane'' (instrument) (鉦), a Japanese percussion instrument * Sho?, a Dubai rock band People * Shō (given name), including ''Sho'' * Shō (su ...

. They also fired mortar rounds to halt any advance of the forces. After the involvement of the army on backup, the police had been successful in killing 54 dacoits., successfully making the gang surrender, which led to the arrest of them and their leader. The police officers who were previously kidnapped, were later released by the gang.

Chotu Gang in the media

Geo Sar Utha Kay ''Geo Sar Utha Kay'' ( ur, جیو سر اُٹھا کے) is a 2017 Pakistani action-drama film which is directed and produced by Nadeem Cheema under his production banner of Cheema Films. The film is written by Nasir Mehmood. Veteran actors su ...

is a Pakistani film which is based on Chotu Gang.

Court trial

An anti-terrorism court on March 12, 2019, awarded the

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

on 18 counts to 20 gangsters, including members of notorious Chotu gang and the ring leader, Ghulam Rasool, for killing six policemen in Rajanpur Kacha area in 2016. Two other convicts, Qasim and Abdul Samad, who were below the age of 18, were awarded life imprisonment on 19 counts. Other gangs, whose members were awarded death sentences, included Sikhani gang, Inder gang and Changwani gang among others. The convicts included Ghulam Rasool alias Chotu, his brother Pyara, Nadir, Deen Muhammad, Khalid alias Khaldi, Ishaq alias Bilal, Akram alias Akri, Ghulam Haidar, Hakim, Razzaq, Majid, Nasir, Sher Khan, Jumma alias Bhutta, Rasheed, Behram, Bashir, Abdul Wahid, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, and Hussain Bakhsh. The convicts were awarded death sentence on six counts under Section 302

Pakistan Penal Code The Pakistan Penal Code (; ), abbreviated as PPC, is a penal code for all offences charged in Pakistan. It was originally prepared by Lord Macaulay with a great consultation in 1860 on the behalf of the Government of India as the Indian Penal ...

, six counts under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and another six counts under Section 3 of the Explosive Substance Act 1908. The convicts were also charged with Rs. 6.2 million fine each or undergo additional imprisonment in case of default. All the 22 convicted would also undergo life imprisonment.

References

{{reflist, 30em Organised crime groups in Pakistan Police operations in Pakistan