Rawalpindi - A man was killed when a gun battle broke out between two groups over a land dispute at Bhatta Chowk, Union Council (UC) Girja, sources informed on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Mazhar son of Malik Shaukat. Police claimed to have arrested two men on charges of killing the man and recovered weapon from them.
According to sources, a bloody clash took place between two groups on a dispute of land located at Bhatta Chowk within limits of the Police Station Naseerabad that left one person dead. They said the men from both groups - Malik Shoukat group and Raja Waqas group - used automatic weapons aimed to occupy a piece of land.
A local told The Nation that Malik Shaukat had sold out the land to Raja Waqas, owner of the ACL Construction Company, on a very low rate a few years ago. He said that when now prices of the land increased then Malik Shoukat tried to take back the land from Raja Waqas forcibly that led to armed clash between them. “Mazhar was standing on his rooftop when a bullet hit him and he died on the spot,” he said.
A heavy contingent of police headed by SP Potohar Division Syed Ali and DSP Cantt Circle Farhan Aslam also reached the spot and recorded statements of eyewitnesses and collected evidence. Police moved the dead body to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital for post-mortem.
DSP Farhan Aslam told The Nation that man was killed during armed clash between two groups over a land dispute. He said two men were arrested in connection while a 12 bore riffle was also recovered from their possession. He said Malik Shoukat, father of deceased, had lodged a complaint with police accusing Raja Waqas and others of killing his son. He said case would be registered after issuance of medico legal report.
On the other hand, Sihala police failed in arresting killer of a property dealer despite passage of five days. According to details, a man Raja Mukhtar Ahmed was allegedly gunned down by his uncle and cousins on the Japan Road on May 14, 2018 apparently on a land dispute. After committing the crime, the killers managed escape from the crime scene and Sihala police registered a case against the killers. The victim family appealed to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Sultan Azam Taimoori and SSP (Operations) Najib ur Rehman Bagvi to take action against PS Sihala officials for showing negligence and not arresting the killers.