Elders intervene as man granted bail in slipper theft case

Shoot-out over missing slippers claimed four lives.

KARACHI: A person involved in the case of ‘slipper theft’ that led to a gunfight between two groups and left four people dead, was granted bail by a district and sessions judge on Thursday.

Sartaj Khan, son of Naqash Dad, was allowed bail by Judge Iqbal Ahmed Khwaja, after both the parties reached a settlement outside the court, said his counsel Khalid Hasan Rajpar.

A brawl had broken out after Friday prayers at a mosque in Mansehra Colony on May 18 when Zakaullah found out that his slippers were missing from the place.

Zakaullah then went to the house of Farooq, and complained that his child had stolen his slippers from the mosque. Neighbours and family members of both the men also gathered around the place, and as the altercation intensified, some people took out guns and started firing at each other. As a result, Fazal Mohammad and his son, Hayyat Mohammad, and Dawa Sher and Siraj were killed, while three others were injured.

“The families fought over a pair of slippers, whose fate is still unknown,” said Mohammad Murad, the counsel for the other party. “It was just an excuse to settle down some personal enmities.”

An FIR no. 114/12 was registered in the Sharafi Goth police station under section 302/ 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Only Sartaj was arrested, while six others were declared absconders in the case, according to Murad.

Lawyer Rajper, said that elders of the community had intervened and resolved the dispute. He added that a copy of the compromise, along with the endorsement of all legal heirs, was also submitted in the court.

The judge set the bail at Rs200,000 and called the next hearing on July 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2012.