Donkey ends up as collateral damage in gang war

Villager orders post mortem of donkey, says his neighbour was aiming for him.

FAISALABAD:

A villager filed an application for a post mortem of his donkey on Monday evening. According to Jaranwala police officials, Chak No 357GB resident Abdul Ghafoor approached the police to order an autopsy of his donkey. “He said that there had been a shooting and that the bullet hit his donkey,” assistant sub inspector (ASI) Sabir said.

“I was attacked and the animal saved me. The bullet hit it and the shooters ran away,” Ghafoor said. “My neighbours are the ones responsible,” he added. Ghafoor told police officials that he had been attacked by his rivals Muhammad Riaz and his accomplices outside the village. “I was returning home from the fields when they opened fire on me. They had threatened me already,” he said.

Ghafoor said that the donkey sustained a serious bullet wound and died on the way to hospital. Ghafoor has requested that the police register a case against his opponents for killing his donkey and order an autopsy report to confirm the attempt on his life.

Saddar Jaranwala Police Station Investigation Officer, ASI Sabir, told reporters that they had ordered an autopsy after they received the application. “A formal document has been sent to the Veterinary Hospital Jaranwala and a doctor has been asked to ascertain the cause of death of the animal,” Sabir said.

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Police officials said that a case will be registered after they receive a formal report from the veterinary doctor. “We will only proceed with a case if the charges are proven by the medical report. This could simply have been a stray bullet or the animal could have died of natural causes,” he said.

Police said that two days ago Ghafoor was booked in a firing case for injuring his opponent during a fight between two rival groups. “There is a long standing feud between these groups over property. It could be that Ghafoor is just trying to deflect blame from himself,” Sabir said.

There is already a registered case against Ghafoor and police officials said that he may be trying to implicate his opponents by blaming them for killing his donkey while trying to kill him.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2011.