Scuffle: 15 injured in post-election clashes in Jhang

FAISALABAD:

As many as 12 people were injured in clashes following the election in wards 18 and 30 of Jhang municipal committee late Sunday night.

Heavy police contingents reached the sites and took in custody at least 13 people in a search operation in the two wards.

Witnesses in ward-18 (Mohallah Noorul Sadaat) said that clashes broke out between supporters of PML-N and PTI a few minutes after the announcement of PML-N candidate Zahid Parvaiz Lala’s victory in the election.

PTI leader Rana Javaid Rasheed said a group of party workers was attacked by some PML-N men when they were on their way to Lala’s residence to congratulate him on his victory. He said the PML-N men had opened fire on them, injuring Aslam alias Acchi and six others. Rana Naseem Akhtar was the PTI candidate in the ward.  The other incident took place in Ward-20 where PML-N’s Malik Iftikhar was defeated by Sakhi Ahmad Khan alias Guddo, a candidate from Rah-i-Haq group.

At least four people were reported injured in the clash.

Separately, three people suffered bullet injuries in a clash between supporters of rival candidates in Jhang Kotwali on Sunday.

The injured were taken to the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital from where one of them was referred to the Allied Hospital in Faisalabad.

Meanwhile, scores of relatives of the injured gathered at Purani Chungi Railway Phattak and blocked Faisalabad Road for traffic to protest what they said was police’s reluctance to take action against their rival group.

Speaking to the media, Anwar Ali, a protester, said the injured men were attacked by supporters of the winning candidate. He said when the matter was reported to the police it had refused to take action. He said the attackers belonged to an influential family and feared that they would harm his other relatives if the police did not take them into custody. The protesters dispersed after a police contingent reached the scene and assured them of action against the suspects.

A police spokesperson said that a complaint had been registered and a team formed to track down the suspects.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th,  2015.