LARKANA: Three men were gunned down and three houses along with two vehicles were torched in reaction when two rival groups in a property dispute atta­cked each other near Channa village in Larkana district on Friday.

A strong contingent of police was sent to the area to bring the situation under control but the village and its surrounding areas remain in the grip of tension following the incident.

Initial reports suggested that the two sides had long been engaged in hostility over a piece of land. Both claimants of the disputed land lived close to each other. On Friday, three persons belonging to one side were shot dead along Larkana-Akil road while they were returning to Channa village by a motorcycle after visiting Akil town.

Officials at the Haidri police station said that the assailants, who could not be identified immediately, managed to escape from the crime scene.

The deceased were identified as Sajjad Sangi, his close relative Ayaz Sangi and Abdul Hafeez Gaad. The police said all the three victims died on the spot.

Soon after the incident, people from the aggrieved side reacted violently and torched two houses, a guest house (autaq), a car and an auto-rickshaw belonging to their rivals. Both sides resorted to firing into the air during the violent attacks causing a great deal of panic in and around the village.

A strong police contingent riding an armoured personnel carrier (APC) moved into the area to bring the situation under control. The police force, led by City ASP Moha­m­med Kaleem Malik, remained deployed in the troubled area till last reports came in late in the evening.

In the meantime, fire brigade arrived and extinguished the fire.

According to the police, the attackers abandoned their houses to go underground in order to escape arrest or wrath of the rival side. Police picked up three suspects for interrogation.

Stringent security measures had to be taken to transport the bodies to the mortuary of the Chandka Medical College Hosp­ital, where legal formalities were conducted before they were handed over to the heirs.

After collecting the bodies, the bereaved families along with their relatives and other people proceeded to the SSP Chowk and held a demonstration calling for the immediate arrest of the killers. ASP Malik along with Haidri SHO Sartaj Jagirani held negotiations with the protesters and held out the assurance that the culprits would be arrested as soon as possible. On their assurance, the protesters dispersed peacefully and took away the bodies for burial.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2019