In the federal capital: Shrine sealed after clash

Authorities say rival groups of disciples clashed over ‘offerings’.

ISLAMABAD:

The authorities have sealed the shrine of Sufi saint Sakhi Mehmood in the Aabpara neighbourhood of the capital city following a clash between disciples living on its premises.

Armed men riding on a motorbike shot and injured three members of the Sunni Tehreek (ST) in front of Aabpara police station. One of the injured – identified as Khalid Waheed Abbas alias Chairman – died at the Polyclinic Hospital within three hours of the firing incident.

According to the police, two groups of the saint’s disciples clashed over collection of offerings at the shrine. One group, mainly ST members, attacked the rival who belongs to the Shia sect, with batons.

The ST members then took control of the part of the shrine where most of the offerings are made by the devotees every day, police said.

The rival group members Farhat Abbas Naqvi and Raja Zulfiqar approached the Aabpara police to lodge a case against ST activists.

ST leaders, including Qari Mubashir, also approached the Aabpara police and insisted that police register a counter case as members of their group were also wounded in the clash.

While the two groups were arguing at the police station, armed men riding on a motorbike opened fire on some ST activists standing outside the police station.

The injured were rushed to the nearby Polyclinic Hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries. Police registered a murder case against unknown men.

“It’s not a sectarian clash. The two groups are, in fact, fighting over offerings made at the shrine,” a police official told The Express Tribune.

Following the incident, Deputy Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed ordered the police to seal the shrine and evict all members of the two groups from its premises.

The shrine of Sakhi Mehmood, father of famous Sufi saint Bari Imam, attracts devotees in droves every day.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2012.