Tainted land: Seven men shot dead over Rs40m plot

A Baloch and an Urdu-speaking group are fighting over four acres.

KARACHI: A piece of land, worth around Rs40 million, is the reason why seven men have been killed since Wednesday in Al Falah area of Malir.

On Friday too, the law and order situation in parts of Malir was tense as three more people, one of whom was an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), were gunned down as killings continued for the third consecutive day. Aerial firing was reported in the area after the killings and the shopkeepers were forced to go home.

Ansu Goth, Ansabad, Kala Board, Siddiq Goth and Shamsi Society were tense. Although a heavy contingent of law enforcers, including the Rangers and police were deployed in these areas, seven people, including five Baloch and two Urdu-speaking men, were gunned down in three days.

Four Baloch men, Mannan, Faqir, Ghulam and Haroon were gunned down on Wednesday and Thursday. More killings followed on Friday as a member of the Elders Wing of the MQM, 61-year-old Muhammad Hanif Sheikh, Rashid and Shahnawaz Baloch were gunned down in separate parts of Al Falah.

The residents said that the killings were taking place because of a three- to four-acre piece of land. “The land grabbers leave their hideouts from time to time and kill the passersby,” said the residents. “They are trying to cause ethnic riots by killing people at random.”

On the other hand, District East DIG Akram Naeem Barokha confirmed the killings but said that they were not directly affiliated with any political party. He said that the land in question was worth around Rs40 million. However, Barokha said that it was possible that the political parties might take advantage of the situation. “According to our own intelligence, the dispute has been going on for two years,” said the DIG. “Both the parties involved have absconded while we are trying to sit them down and resolve it.”

The SHO of Al Falah police station, Nawaz Chitta, was suspended because of his failure to control the law and order situation of the area. Inspector Khalid Nadeem Baig was appointed in his place. The police have not taken anyone into custody yet. They said that they have increased patrolling in the area and are carrying out raids to find the culprits.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2012.