Man beaten to death during shop seizure

Police register case against 14 suspects

LODHRAN:

In an attempt to forcibly take over a shop led to the violent death of a man who intervened. The police have arrested two suspects, while a case has been registered against 14 individuals, including eight named and six unidentified suspects, based on the statement of the deceased's brother.

Police said Muhammad Yaqoob, a resident of Mohalla Qaziyan Wala, Gogran, filed a complaint at the Quraishi Wala police station. He stated that his son Hamza had married Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad Yousuf, about a year and a half ago.

Yousuf, who owned a juice shop in Gogran city, had passed away 15-20 days prior to the incident. Following his death, tensions over the ownership of the shop escalated.

Yousuf had been married twice. From his first marriage to Kulsoom Bibi, he had a son, Muhammad Ishaq, and two daughters. After divorcing Kulsoom Bibi, Yousuf married Shabina Begum, with whom he had a daughter, Fatima, now Yaqoob's daughter-in-law.

Before his death, Yousuf had transferred ownership of his remaining property to Shabina Begum, leading to a dispute over the shop.

On the night of September 21, around 8:00pm, a group of armed individuals, including Muhammad Ishaq, Muhammad Zafar, Muhammad Sadiq, Madni, Mehmood, Nauman, Bismillah, Hafeez, and 5-6 unidentified others, attempted to forcibly break into the shop.

Muhammad Ishaq and Madni reportedly began breaking the locks with hammers. When Yaqoob's brother, Muhammad Umar, intervened, the attackers violently assaulted him until he lost consciousness. Despite being rushed to RHC Gogran hospital and later referred to Bahawalpur, Umar succumbed to his injuries the following day.

The Quraishi Wala police have registered a case and an investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, police claimed to have cracked the mystery of the murder of a spiritual healer in Jalla Araeen area.

Spiritual healer Abdul Aziz was found murdered on September 16. Two suspects, who are brothers and disciples of the deceased, have been arrested for the crime.

Police said the suspects confessed that they had killed Aziz due to his demands for large offerings for healing their sick child.

The brothers claimed that Aziz practiced black magic and had previously blamed them for the death of their unborn child, saying they hadn't paid him his demanded offerings.