Seven murders in 10 days shock Gujranwala

All the murders took place within Tatlay Aali Police Station jurisdiction

GUJRANWALA:

Seven people were killed in the last 10 days in the jurisdiction of a single police station in Gujranwala.

Tatlay Aali Police Station, which is located in a Tehsil in the Nowshera Virkan area of Gujranwala, has a jurisdiction in which disputes among the people ranging from animosity within extended families to land disputes frequently take an ugly turn.

Police have done their best to help families settle their disputes amicably, but the disputants seemed unwilling to let bygones be bygones.

Sadaqat and Nazakat Cheema, sons of Liaqat Cheema, had been riding on a motorbike from their house to the fields with their friend Riyaz. On their way, unidentified people opened fire, murdering the trio.

The deceased Nazakat had recently been released after spending 18 years in jail in a murder case, the police said. He had murdered the defendant's father.

In the Deepalpur area of Tatlay Aali Police Station, an opponent shot dead a man and critically injured his son.

After filing a case against his opponents over a property dispute at Tatlay Aali Police Station, the deceased Faqeer Hussain and his son Zahid had been on their way back to their home in Artali Virkan.

Faqeer Hussain was the father of eight children.

In a shooting incident in Mauza Kotli Arora, an elderly man, Yamin, was murdered, and his son Amjad was injured.

In retaliation, the supporters of the deceased had allegedly kidnapped 60-year-old Muhammad Siddique and killed him. They put his body in a sack and threw it into the Raja Bhalla Canal.

The Tatlay Aali Police Station had arrested a member of the slain man’s party after receiving a complaint about Muhammad Siddique's disappearance.

The suspect had allegedly admitted to killing the old man and dumping his body into the canal. Rescue 1122 had mounted a search operation in the Raja Bhala Canal in the presence of the police and the suspect.

In the vicinity of Tatlay Aali Police Station, body of an unidentified man was found who was later identified as Ali Akbar. Ali Akbar had been killed and dumped into the canal.

SHO Riyaz Ahmad Gondal said all of the murders were committed out of family animosity.

Nazakat had killed the father of his rival, Anwar Haq. Nazakat had served a term for the murder, but when he got out of jail, his opponents killed him along with two other people.

In the murder case of Faqeer Hussain, a suspect was detained.

The cases are currently under investigation.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2023.