Two brothers ‘killed’ by uncles for land

Victims were sleeping when accused crept into their rooms and slayed them using a sharp weapon

Two brothers were allegedly murdered by their uncles over a land dispute in the limits of Khurrianwala police station on Friday. Police said that 18-year-old Shahbaz and his older brother 27-year-old Shahryar were present at their home in Ghousia Colony, Khurrianwala when unidentified persons killed them with a blow of sharp-edged weapons.

Reportedly, the victims and their father had a dispute with their extended family over inherited agricultural land. Police arrested three persons involved in the double murder and shifted the bodies to a hospital for postmortem and launched an investigation.

A large number of civilians reached the scene after the double murder and an atmosphere of fear and panic spread in the area. As per details available with The Express Tribune, Muhammad Hanif, a resident of Ghousia Colony Madani Masjid, had a dispute with his brothers Jamal Din and Kamal Din over a land and six-marla house.

In an attempt to claim the property, the accused brothers Kamal and Jamal stabbed their nephews Shehryar and Shahbaz, both Hanif’s sons, to death in the head with a sharp weapon while they were sleeping inside the house.

The accused managed to flee from the crime scene. Other family members sleeping in the house came to know about the double murder in the morning after which they informed the police.

According to police report, the accused first killed Shehryar and then hit Shahbaz on the head to kill him, during which Shahbaz also resisted their murder attempt. Shahbaz’s resistance resulted in injurious marks of a sharp tool found on his hand. Upon receiving the information, Khurrianwala DSP Mian Khalid Mehmood, Khurrianwala SHO Mohsin Munir Basra along with senior police officers and a large number of villagers reached the spot.

Police took the bodies of the two slain brothers into their custody and shifted them to Jaranwala Hospital for postmortem. According to the SHO, the two brothers were killed by their own uncles over the land and house dispute.

Police registered a case under the provisions of double murder on the complaint of Hanif. Meanwhile, RPO Rifat Mukhtar Raja and CPO Sohail Chaudhry took notice of the double murder incident and sought a report of the incident from Jaranwala SP. Incidents of murder for property were not uncommon in the province.

On September 29, in a bid to seize property and money, an elderly man was allegedly murdered by his daughter-in-law and grandson in Faisalabad. The grandson of the deceased, identified as Waseem Abbas, wanted to seize his grandfather’s property and bank balance.

Waseem along with his mother Aasia bibi, broke into a fight with 85-year-old Basheer Ahmed. Waseem hit a brick on the head of Basheer. The victim was shifted to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. On June 17, four women were killed by their uncle over a dispute of inheritance in Naran Shumalian village in the outskirts of Khushab.

The accused Mohammed Amir, along with his accomplices, barged into his deceased brother Sher Muhammad Saidukhel’s house and opened indiscriminate fire on the victims, killing Bushara Bibi, Shazia Bibi, Sultana Bibi and Nasreen Bibi on the spot.