Turf war: Seven dead in fight over coal firm

Former union council nazim among the deceased.

HYDERABAD: At least seven people were killed on Wednesday evening in a clash between two groups over the possession of a coal company in Jamshoro.

Fighting broke out at the Lakhra coal mines in the Khirthar mountains, around 50 kilometres from Jamshoro in the district’s Manjhand taluka.

According to Edhi and police sources, four bodies and as many injured persons were shifted to hospitals in Jamshoro and Hyderabad. Three of them of later succumbed to their wounds.

The police also said that the fighting involved supporters of MPA Fakir Dad Khoso of the Pakistan Peoples Party, and retired DIG Mir Nadir Khan Khoso. The DIG’s family reportedly owns Fateh Coal Company at the Lakhra coal mine. The company was leased to a Pashtun businessman but the MPA allegedly opposed the deal as he wanted to buy the company.

“The DIG’s men claim they were attacked by the MPA’s supporters, while the latter claims that the incident took place when they tried to stop Nadir’s son Imtiaz Khoso from hunting wildlife,” a police official told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.

Imtiaz was booked in a hunting case by the district game warden Malik Shafqat not long ago.



The MPA also told reporters that the clash erupted over hunting. However, his brother Lashkari Khoso, who is a revenue officer in Manjhand taluka, said the dispute was over a coal mine.

The people killed in the fight include Ali Akbar Khoso, a former union council nazim. The names of the two other deceased could not be ascertained. Four of the slain persons are from Nadir Khoso’s group while the three others, including two relatives, are affiliated with Faqir Dad Khoso.

The game warden, Malik Shafqat, said that two FIRs were lodged against Imtiaz Khoso and his five associates for illegal hunting and attacking wildlife preservation officials who tried to stop him. One FIR pertains to a criminal case lodged on the complaint of wildlife inspector Asad Marri, while another concerns illegal hunting.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2013.