Old Rivalry: Man, wife shot dead over property dispute

FAISALABAD:

A man and his wife were killed on Friday over some property, Bahlak police said.

Police said Ali Sher, a resident of Chak 607-GB, had had a dispute with Fayyaz Shah, of the same village, over some property.

They said Sher had filed a case against Shah and the court had given a ruling in favour of Sher.

On Friday, police said, Shah and his accomplices Ghulam Dastgeer, Ghulam Mohiuddin, Bhai Khan and two unidentified men shot Sher and his wife, Ashraf Bibi, while the couple was on their way home.

They both died on the spot. The assailants fled the scene.

Muhammad Hussain, a witness and a neighbour of the deceased, said that the assailants had first stopped Sher, who was riding a motorcycle. Hussain said Sher told Shah and his men to let him go as he was accompanied by his wife.

He said some passers-by had tried to intervene when an argument started between Shah and Sher, but Shah threatened them with death.

He said Shah had been waving a pistol in the air.

“Before Sher could say more, Shah and his men shot the couple, killing them on the spot.”

Other witnesses told police that Shah abused Sher and threatened to “dig his grave”.

They said some passers-by tried to catch Shah and his accomplices, but they fled firing several shots in the air.

The Bahlak station house officer said that a police team was looking for the suspects.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2013.