Wanted man kills villager to escape crowd

SADIQABAD: A notorious criminal opened fire on a man one kilometre away from the Bhong police station. Accused Farid Andhud opened fire and axed Hafiz Muhammad near the Bhong police station, and then dragged his body. The assistant superintendent police (ASP) Anwar Khethran reached the crime scene after several hours of the crime being reported.

According to locals, Hafiz Muhammad village and Farid Andhud were neighbours. “The police did not take action to arrest the accused and when we found out he was staying in the village, he took a hostage to escape,” said Faiz Nawazal.

On Saturday Farid and three unidentified accomplices opened fire on Hafiz and cut his legs. Locals said the men killed Hafiz while he was watering his fields. “They saw villagers gathering and immediately grabbed hold of him, chopped his legs and slaughtered him in front of us. When we tried to approach them, they opened fire,” Javed, an eye witness said.

Police said that Farid was running from the police for a long time and was wanted for several cases. “He quarrelled with Hafiz Muhammad over watering the fields fifteen days ago. The other day Hafiz was watering his fields when the accused killed him to escape,” the ASP said. He said that after killing Hafiz, Farid escaped from the scene along with his family and livestock. The police have registered the case and are investigating Farid’s whereabouts.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2010.