Farid Khan’s murder: 11 dead in reprisal over PTI lawmaker’s slaying

Angry mob defies curfew, sets fire to shops and private offices in Hangu.

HANGU:

At least 11 people were killed on Tuesday as violent protests flared in Hangu in reprisal over Monday’s slaying of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly member Farid Khan.

Separately, District Police Officer Sajjad Khan told journalists that police had arrested a key suspect, commander Mufti Hamid, along with six others who were allegedly involved in the attack on the MPA, and moved Hamid to an undisclosed location.

MPA Farid, along with his driver Ayaz and brother Shah Nawaz, was travelling to Hangu city from the suburban Speen Khawra area, when gunmen opened fire on his car, killing Farid on the spot and injuring his driver and brother. Ayaz later succumbed to his injuries in the District Headquarters Hospital. Nawaz was rushed to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

The news of the brazen attack spread like wildfire, angering hundreds of people, some of whom resorted to arson attacks. A mob set fire to shops, a petrol pump and private offices, despite district authorities and security forces imposing a curfew across the district on Monday.

All educational institutions remained shut. Despite that, the violence continued unabated.

According to a police official, all markets of Hangu city were closed on Tuesday as people were in “a state of shock and grief” over the death of Farid.

An official at the hospital said the people killed in the violence were identified as Sifat Khan, Abdur Razaq, Movaiz Khan, Hussain Akbar, Hikmat Shah, Imran Khan and Rehmat Shah.

Meanwhile, DPO Khan said an FIR has been registered in Farid’s murder by his brother Shamsur and nominated former JUI-F MPA Atiqur Rehman, his brother Shafiqur Rehman and their uncle Noor Rehman. Atiqur had lost to Farid in the recent elections.

Separately, four bullet riddled bodies were found in the jurisdiction of Hangu police station on Tuesday.

SHO Azmat Khan told The Express Tribune the victim, belonging to a militant commander’s group, were found on a by-pass road.

Funeral offered for Farid and Ayaz

The funeral prayers of the slain MPA and his driver Ayaz were offered at Darvezi Palosa Hangu.

A large number of elders and local leaders of PTI  were present at the funeral, held amid tight security.

Later, elders of several tribes held a meeting with the Sunni Supreme Council Chairman Maulana Abdul Sattar and unanimously decided to field Farid’s younger brother Shah Faisal for the PK-42 constituency by-elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2013.