Two killed outside Hyderabad district court

As six armed men riding on three motorcycle opened fire on the victims says police

HYDERABAD: A local councillor and his brother who were on the way to attend a hearing in the Hyderabad district and sessions court were shot dead on Friday morning outside the court. According to the police, six armed men riding on three motorcycle opened fire on the brothers and escaped after shooting them dead.

Ali Muhammad Hajano, 45, and Mashooq Hajano, 40, lost their lives in the attack while their cousin, Sujawal Hajano, was injured. The police arrested a suspect, Soof Khan Burdi, from Jumo Burdi village in Seri area of Hyderabad after the attack.

The families of the slain persons staged a sit-in demonstration outside Hyderabad SSP's office, demanding arrest of the killers. Imran Hajano, a relative, informed that over a year ago the men of Hajano and Burdi communities clashed over a trifling matter of a fight among children of the two sides. The clash resulted in the killing of two persons from Buledi community and one from Hajano.

After the clash last year between Burdi and Hajano communities, both sides lodged FIRs against each other, nominating dozens of persons. The two slain brothers were nominated in the FIR of the clash. The arrested Soof Khan Burdi is complainant in one of the FIRs. The protesters dispersed after Headquarters SP Zulfiqar Zardari assured them that the killers will be arrested within three days.

The police spokesperson informed that Hyderabad SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz Shaikh suspended Cant Police Station SHO in the wake of the incident because he failed to maintain security around the court. The incident's FIR has not been lodged so far. The CCTV footage taken from one of the cameras installed outside the SSP office, which is adjacent to the court, showed two persons firing gunshots on Ali Muhammad and Mashooq.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2019.