THATTA, Jan 27: A former minister and several officials accompanying him escaped unhurt in an ambush that left seven villagers injured near Keenjhar Lake on Sunday evening.

The ex-minister, Sadiq Ali Memon, who still heads the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA), was accompanying Thatta Game Warden Abdul Hameed Panhwar, some government officials and Pakistan People’s Party Thatta taluka chief Abdul Hameed Soomro, besides many villagers, in his visit to the Mir Bahar area within the remit of the Keenjhar police station.

Reports from the scene of the incident suggested that Mr Memon and the officials intended to mediate in a dispute between the Soomro and Tarra clans over a piece of land. They parked their vehicles and were being led to the disputed plot, some 40 kilometres from here on the National Highway.

“As they tried to walk up to the plot, armed men hiding in nearby bushes opened indiscriminate firing on them,” residents of Mir Bahar said, adding that the purpose of their visit was to ascertain the status and physical location of the plot. They said that the team and all people present there ran for safety but several of them sustained bullet injuries.

Those seriously injured in the ambush were identified as Ali Hassan Soomro, Meer Mohammad Soomro and Chachar Soomro. They were rushed to Karachi for treatment. Four other persons with bullet injuries were taken to the Makli Civil Hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable.

No case was registered against the attackers till late Sunday but the Keenjhar police said they were combing up the area to nab the culprits.