Rental ruckus: Two killed over rent issue

After tiring of exchanging blows, two men took out pistols and shot at each other.

RAWALPINDI:

A dispute over rent and possible eviction from a house left two people dead here on Sunday.

According to the police, there was an ongoing row between a landlord, Bilawal Hanif, and his tenant over house rent. The house in question is situated at Dhoke Elahi Bux in the jurisdiction of Waris Khan Police Station.

The version told by the police started with the tenant, Sabra, having a harsh exchange with Hanif, after which she called her son-in-law, Sadiq alias Kashar and told him about the dispute.  Kashar went to his mother-in-law’s house and began arguing with Hanif. They soon began brawling. After tiring of exchanging blows, both men took out pistols and shot at each other. Consequently, Kashar died on the spot while Hanif and his friend Asif Mughal were injured. Later, they were shifted to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) by relatives. Some people associated with Kahsar followed them and opened fire on Hanif and Mughal, according to eyewitness reports quoted by the police. As a result, Mughal died in the hospital while Hanif survived the attack.

The incident of firing at BBH spread panic among those present at the hospital. Later, the police shifted the injured Hanif to District Headquarters Hospital.

“Both parties rushed to hospitals without informing the police, so we were unaware about the incident in Dhoke Elahi Bux,” said Najeebullah, the investigation officer for the case.  “We reached BBH after getting a report of the firing incident at the hospital.”

He said it has yet to be officially confirmed whether Mughal was targeted inside or outside BBH. However, Mughal’s relatives are reportedly claiming that he was attacked inside the hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2014.