Motorway police have formally rejected circulating media reports claiming that advanced surveillance cameras and associated equipment installed along the Sukkur-Multan motorway section in Sindh had been taken by katcha area dacoits, calling the accounts baseless and categorically disconnected from the facts. Spokesperson Syed Imran Ahmad issued the rebuttal on Saturday in response to reports that had gained significant traction, alleging that Intelligent Transport System surveillance cameras, speed cameras, solar panels, lights, and poles along nearly 200 kilometres of the motorway had been removed by criminal elements operating out of the riverine areas of Sindh.
According to the spokesperson, the Intelligent Transport System surveillance cameras were not stolen but were instead deliberately removed by the relevant administration for security and administrative reasons. He confirmed that the One Network administration had carried out this removal in December 2023, more than two years before the reports in question began to circulate. The spokesperson described the media coverage as an attempt to present an old administrative matter as a recent and alarming incident, emphasising that the framing bore no connection to the truth. He also assured the public that alternative and effective surveillance arrangements were in place on the motorway to ensure continued monitoring and safety along the route.
The clarification is significant given the security sensitivity of the katcha belt in southern Punjab and northern Sindh, where criminal groups have historically operated and where concerns about infrastructure vulnerability along the motorway corridor have periodically surfaced. The spread of the original reports had raised questions about the state of surveillance infrastructure along one of Pakistan’s busiest freight and intercity transport arteries, making the official rebuttal particularly important for public understanding of the actual situation on the ground. Motorway police indicated that no theft of the nature described in the reports had taken place, and that the matter was being addressed through proper official channels to correct the public record.
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