SUKKUR: Three undertrial prisoners were shot dead at the gate of Khairpur Sessions Court, ostensibly by their rivals in a murder case, on Friday.

Onlookers and local reporters said that armed men started an indiscriminate fire on the UTPs while the latter were walking towards the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) for the hearing of the murder case.

They said that two of the victims died instantly when the first burst was fried, and the third one tried to run to safety but the assailants turned their guns to him and fired another burst killing him as well.

The victims were identified as Hakim, Shakeel and Barkat, all belonging to the Kandhro community and residents of the Lyari area, situated in Kotdiji taluka of Khairpur district.

The attackers drove away under the cover of heavy aerial firing. The jail and City police could not intercept them although offices of the Khairpur SSP and City DSP are paces away from the court building, according to media persons.

The incident caused great panic in and outside the court as well as its adjacent localities.

Later, police collected and transported the bodies to the Khairpur Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

While the City and district police did not issue a press statement regarding the incident and all senior police officers present in the area also avoided sharing such information with media personnel till late in the evening, SSP Samiullah Soomro discussed the episode with Sessions Judge Munawwar Sultana in a meeting that lasted almost two hours, sources said.

The judge and a group of lawyers also inspected site of the incident, they added.

Protesters block road

The bereaved families, along with other members of the Kandhra community, brought the bodies to the nearby section of the National Highway near Theri town to hold a protest demonstration over the broad daylight attack in the presence of police.

The vehicular traffic on the highway was disrupted as the protesters had placed the bodies in the middle of the road and raising slogans against the police.

The protesters told the local reporters that they would keep the road blocked until the killers were arrested. They also demanded a terror case to be registered against the assailants.

The City DSP and area SHO held negotiations with the protesters and finally persuaded them to clear the road.

Local reporters said that the UTPs were accused of killing a man, who belonged to the Jagirani community, some time ago. They said he had lost his life during an armed clash between rival groups of Kandhras and Jagiranis over the ownership of a piece of agricultural land.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that two brothers, Sarfaraz and Waqar, sons of Lakhmir Jagirani, have been picked up by police for interrogation regarding the Friday attack at the court building.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024