HYDERABAD, Sept 27: Four men received bullet injuries in an exchange of fire outside a private hospital in Sarfaraz Colony here on Thursday on account of an old enmity involving a matrimonial dispute.

Those injured were identified as Nazar Mohammad and his son Sabir Hussain, Tariq and Basheer Ahmed Rind. They were taken to the Civil Hospital where they are stated to be stable. Two unlicensed TT pistols were allegedly seized from Tariq and Basheer and a licensed pistol was recovered from Sabir Hussain.

The Market police have reportedly arrested Tariq and Basheer. The police have lodged cases under relevant sections of law.

According to Nazar Mohammad, he with his son Sabir Hussain, a primary school teacher in Badin, had come to the private hospital for his post-surgery examination. As soon as they disembarked form a taxi, they were fired upon by Basheer and his friend, who were riding a motorcycle. Nazar said that they were hit in legs and his son returned the fire.

He said that Basheer was their distant relative and a dispute existed between them in the wake of love marriage between his cousin’s son Ali Sher and Basheer’s sister Zaibun Nisa.

He said that Ali Sher was killed by Basheer and his brother Yasin on May 7, 2006 in Badin and they subsequently gunned down their sister Zaibun Nisa and labelled the slain couple as karo-kari. Basheer denied the charge and said that he was passing through the area with his friend when they were fired upon from a car with tinted glasses. He said that Nazar and Sabir were sitting in the car.

Basheer denied that they had pistols and said that it was being foisted by the police because their rivals, Nazar and Sabir, were influential people. He admitted that a dispute existed between them and accused his rivals of killing Zaibun Nisa over a monetary dispute. He said hat he had been released from a jail some time ago. The police have registered a case on the complaint of Sabir against Basheer ad Tariq while two cases of unlicensed pistols under sections 13-D of Arms Ordinance were against Tariq and Bashir. Basheer had been arrested in two separate cases of kidnapping and murder by the Tando Ghulam Ali police.

Basheer is said to be the brother of Yasin Rind, who is allegedly involved in the kidnapping of journalists Haji Khan Lashari and Amar Singh of Talhar, Badin district.

A police source said that the police made Basheer to talk to his brother Yasin Rind regarding release of the journalists. Initially, he avoided on the ground that he did not have his brother’s mobile phone number but later he spoke to Yasin Rind who also talked to SP investigation Khalid Mustafa Korai.