Three killed over property dispute

Man gets help from 'cops' to grab grandsons’ house

KARACHI:

Three people were killed and a policeman and another injured in a shootout over a property dispute near Chati Hotel, Banaras Colony within the remit of the Peerabad police station.

The injured policeman is stationed at Police Headquarters West Zone. Police arrested the shooter. Later in the evening, eight people, including Joharabad police station SHO were also arrested.

Police officers said that there was evidence that a squad of Joharabad police station was involved in the incident which is being investigated by the higher authorities.

The dead and injured were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the deceased were identified as Shabbir Janant Gul, 25, Yargu Bashir, 20, and Abdullah, 30, while the injured were identified as Iftikhar Ismail Shah, and policeman Kamil Abbas Aslam.

According to reports from the area, the incident took place over a dispute regarding possession of a house.

Ibrahim Shah and his grandsons Nisar Shah, Salman Shah and Iftikhar Shah had been fighting for a house for more than two months.

The grandfather had recently sold the house to a man named Gulab Khan of Mohmand tribe and received the token money. When the grandchildren got the information about the sale of the house, they went to court against their grandfather Ibrahim Shah and obtained a stay order not to sell the house.

Salman Shah, the youngest grandson of Ibrahim Shah, told the media that his father had passed away while three brothers including him were living in the said house with their families. The three brothers and his uncle did not want to sell the house while his grandfather Ibrahim Shah was adamant to sell the house. He said that Ibrahim Shah had recently negotiated with real estate agent Saeed Muhammad to sell the house to a man named Gulab Khan for Rs5 million and had also received token money.

"When we came to know about this, we got a stay from the court against our grandfather Ibrahim Shah for not selling the house," he said.

When Gulab Khan found out about the stay from the court, he talked to Ibrahim Shah and planned to attack the house and vacate it.

On the night between Sunday and Monday, Gulab Khan along with estate agent Saeed Muhammad, two men in police uniforms and more than a dozen armed men went to his house and started knocking on the door to enter the house.

Salman Shah said that Gulab Khan had put the policeman in front to get the door opened. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Shah, who was living on the ground floor of a three-storey house, went to open the door. As soon as the gate opened, armed men tried to enter. However, Nisar Shah and others opened fire from inside the house, injuring a policeman and killing one person.

There was an exchange of fire between the two sides, as a result of which two more people brought to the house by Gulab were killed. Iftikhar Shah was also injured in the firing. All others fled the scene. Shortly after the incident, SHO Joharabad told media that police raided a house in Banaras on a tip-off regarding presence of robbers. The accused opened fire on the police party, injuring an officer and a civilian and managed to escape.

Upon receiving the report of the incident, DSP Manghopir Irfan Kobra, DSP Operation West Division Nasir Bukhari, SHO Peerabad Police and a large contingent of Rangers reached the spot and after getting information from eyewitnesses, collected evidence from the house.

Nisar Shah was also taken into custody on charges of firing.Acoording to DSP Manghopir Irfan Kobra, eyewitnesses said that at the time of the incident, a police mobile of Joharabad police station along with an officer and officials was present in the area. As soon as the firing took place from inside the house, the policemen started firing indiscriminately in confusion. Later, the police fled with their injured companion.

He said that it was being investigated why Joharabad came here without informing the area police station. The injured officer has also been taken into custody and an investigation has been launched.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2021.