Six people, including a police inspector, were killed in an armed clash between two groups over a piece of agricultural land in a riverbed area of Nawabshah on Saturday.
Eight individuals were also injured in the incident which took place in a village of Qazi Ahmed tehsil.
According to the police, the clash occurred between men of the Zardari and Bhand clans.
The latter claimed that five of their men were killed in an armed assault by the Zardaris. They claimed that all the injured persons also belonged to their side.
The police, quoting men of Bhand community, said that the Zardaris tried to harvest a crop grown on disputed land.
However, men from the Bhand side resisted after which the Zardari clan allegedly opened fire.
Sub-Inspector Abdul Hameed Khoso, in charge of a police post that was set up to prevent violent encounters between the two sides, was killed in the attack.
The other slain persons have been identified as Mashooq, Sabir, Akmal, Ayaz and Tarho, all of whom are Bhand by cast.
The injured were shifted to the taluka hospital Qazi Ahmed and Peoples Medical University Hospital in Nawabshah.
All of the wounded sustained gunshot injuries and some are reportedly critical. SSP Amir Saud Magsi claimed that 16 suspects have been rounded up following the incident.
However, the prime suspect, Mohsin Zardari, is still at large.
The incident's FIR has not been lodged thus far.
The Bhand community blocked the National Highway, staging a sit-in protest along with the dead bodies.
They said the Zardaris are politically associated with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and they wield great influence in the district.
The protesters warned that they would not disperse nor bury their dead until the police arrested the suspect and end the encroachment on their agricultural lands.
Around 400 acres of land is said to be under dispute between the two sides. Zardaris are accused of occupying lands of Bhands and cultivating crops without the approval of the owners.
Last month, Sindh United Party's leader Syed Zain Shah led a sit-in protest on the same stretch of the highway, demanding authorities end the allegedly illegal occupation of Zardaris from over 400 acres land.
The protest ended on the assurance that the police pickets would be set up and occupation by Zardaris on the houses of the Bhand community would be ended.
The matter of dispute over ownership of the land was left for a politically influential person, Mir Manzooor Panhwar, to decide.
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