One of the buffaloes died and the rest were saved by locals who witnessed the incident. Bokhara (Daudkhel) katcha farmer Muhammad Naseeb Khan told reporters that nine of their buffaloes entered into Barkatullah Khan’s fields. “The incident happened at night when my family and I were asleep and the buffaloes crossed our fence and began grazing in Khan’s field,” Naseeb said.
The landlord took the animals near Dus Hazari and forced them into the Thal canal with sticks. Eyewitnesses said that the animals tried to come out of the canal from Bukhara miner but one of them died in the process. “It was an incredible sight when so many buffaloes were being forced into the canal, the water was moving at a fast pace and one of the buffaloes drowned,” said local Raza Waleed, adding that he went and got help. “We worked to get the animals out of the water as the loss of so many buffaloes would be an incredible blow to the farmer,” Waleed added.
Over 14 people got together and took nearly two hours to get the buffaloes out of the fast moving water. Muhammad Naseeb Khan accused Barkatullah Khan of killing one of his animals and injuring the rest. “He knew what he was doing and if the rest of my animals had died I would be ruined. I admit that I should have made sure they didn’t leave my lands but this is an extreme punishment for such a small mistake,” Naseeb said. Naseeb has appealed to the Mianwali district administration to help him recover damages for his lost buffalo from Barkatullah Khan.
Barkatullah said that the animals had been ravaging his paddy crop for the last six days. “This wasn’t a one time thing, these buffaloes have been repeatedly ruining my crops and I finally managed to get rid of them,” Barkatullah said. “Today nine to ten buffaloes entered my fields and I got my men to help me force the animals to cross the bridge,” he said. Khan insisted that the owner’s allegations were baseless.
Naseed Khan said that he would register a case against Barkatullah to claim damages for his dead buffalo.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2010.
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