Three decades of gang rivalry haunt Lahore
The assassination of Javed Butt, brother-in-law of Khawaja Tareef Gulshan alias Teefi Butt, has once again brought Lahore to the brink of a gang war.
Butt's murder by unidentified motorcyclists near the Muslim Town underpass marks a deadly resurgence of violence in a feud that has spanned three decades, sending shockwaves through the city.
The deep-rooted enmity between rival groups can be traced back to the murder of Ameerul Din alias Billa Truckanwala nearly 30 years ago.
Billa's murder, allegedly orchestrated by Hanif alias Hanifa and Shafiq alias Baba, ignited a brutal cycle of retaliatory killings that have shaped Lahore's criminal underworld for decades.
In the wake of Billa's death, his killers sought refuge and aligned with Teefi Butt, one of Lahore's most notorious criminals.
Together, they established a network of influence and violence, leading to their inclusion in the city's most-wanted lists. Their escape to tribal areas, alongside figures like Bhola Suniyara and Atif Chaudhry, only strengthened their grip on Lahore's underworld.
One of the most notable figures in this conflict was Ameer Arif alias Tipu Truckanwala, Billa's son, who survived several assassination attempts while seeking revenge for his father's murder.
In a particularly infamous incident outside Aiwan-e-Adal (Civil Courts) at Lower Mall, five people were killed in a shootout, leaving Tipu critically injured. Teefi Butt and his cousin, Gogi Butt, were accused of orchestrating the attack.
Tipu's family, including his uncle Bhae Pehalwan, also became targets in this ongoing feud, with several violent confrontations taking place over the years.
The rivalry continued to escalate, with the most brutal attack occurring during Eid Miladul Nabi near Data Darbar, where MSF leader Tahir Prince was ambushed by a group of proclaimed offenders.
Armed with sophisticated weapons, the attackers killed 13 people and injured dozens.
Despite the bloodshed, Tipu managed to survive and gradually eliminated most members of the rival Top 10 gang, many of whom were killed in police encounters.
However, in 2010, Tipu was assassinated at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport while returning from Dubai.
His murder was allegedly part of a revenge plot orchestrated by Teefi Butt, Gogi Butt, and others.
Despite this high-profile killing, the city remained relatively peaceful in the years that followed, with only a few isolated incidents, including a shooting outside the homes of Teefi and Gogi Butt in 2016.
The peace was shattered in February 2024 when Ameer Balaj Tipu, Tipu's son, was murdered at a wedding ceremony in Chung. This killing, for which Teefi Butt, Gogi Butt and Ahsan Shah were accused, reignited the decades-old feud.
Teefi fled the country and Gogi went into hiding, both becoming proclaimed offenders. A series of retaliatory actions followed, culminating in the assassination of Javed Butt.
Javed Butt's murder appears to be a calculated move to escalate violence and provoke further bloodshed between the rival factions.
His death has raised concerns that Lahore is on the brink of another wave of gang violence. The involvement of law enforcement has also added complexity to the situation. Just days before Butt's assassination, Ahsan Shah, one of the prime suspects in the Balaj murder case, was killed in a police encounter with the Organized Crime Unit.
Shah's death raised suspicions, particularly after an audio recording surfaced in which he discussed plans to murder Sub-Inspector Shakeel Butt.