Fourth grader shot dead by uncle inside school

10-year-old Asad latest victim in years-old land dispute

SUKKUR: Khairpur police are yet to register a case against the man who allegedly shot dead his ten-year-old nephew inside his school on Tuesday.

According to eyewitnesses, Ilyas Rind entered the Haji Aqil Rind Government Primary School during recess and caught hold of Asad, son of Najamdin Rind - his brother. After beating the fourth-grader black and blue, Ilyas reportedly pulled out a pistol and shot him dead. He then managed to flee the school premises. The cold-blooded murder shocked students and teachers, who immediately informed the police.



The Kotdiji police shifted Asad's body to the Taluka Hospital, Kotdiji for postmortem and later handed it over to the boy's relatives.

Police are yet to arrest the alleged culprit. When contacted, Kotdiji police station's head constable, Gul Hassan Sodhro, explained that the relatives of the deceased have not yet come forward for registering an FIR. He claimed that police are carrying out raids to arrest the accused but are yet to succeed.

The brutal murder is said to be the outcome of a bloody land dispute between the two brothers from the Rind community, which has claimed several lives so far.

Explaining the dispute, a Kotdiji-based reporter said a few years ago, Najamdin allegedly killed his cousin, Ahsan Rind, over a land dispute after which he was arrested and is presently an under trial prisoner in Central Prison Khairpur.



Ahsan and Ilyas were said to be very close and involved in business together as well. He added that since that incident, Ilyas was looking for a chance to settle the score and finally killed Asad, Najam's only son. Locals fear that unless elders of the Rind community intervene to settle the dispute, the bloodshed will continue as Ilyas and his family may now become a target of reprisal attacks. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2016.