Rivalry claims child’s life

Armed clash over ownership between two groups from the same family claims one life.

RAWALPINDI: Another child lost his life in the city and 19 others were injured in an armed clash between two rival groups on Saturday.

The petty issue of parking of a car sparked the incident in the Jhanda Cheechi area of Rawalpindi in which Nabeel Khan, nine, was killed.

Both Hafeez group and Nadeem group hail from the same family and belong to Havelian, Hazara division. The two groups had been at loggerheads with each other over the ownership of a shop.

The clash started late Friday night when a member of Nadeem group parked his taxi car outside the house of Pevaiz Khan, who belongs to Hafeez group. The quarrel over the parking grew out of control and lead to heavy exchange of fire between the rivals.

As a result of the incident, four women among 12 injured were shifted to Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ).

The relatives of the injured expressed dissatisfaction over the treatment being accorded by the doctors and medical staff of the hospitals.

They protested against the “apathy” of the doctors, who according to them were not giving proper attention to their injured relatives. Nadeem Khan’s wife told The Express Tribune that bullets could not be removed from her husband’s and her brother Pervaiz Khan’s body. “When I asked the doctor about the delay, he said that it is not necessary that the bullet is removed from the body,” she said. Expressing concern, she said that hospitals should provide timely treatment.

Deputy Medical Superin­tendent for BBH Dr Abdul Ghafoor conceded that due to lack of space and medical facilities proper attention could not be given to the patients. “The number of beds is limited and the CT scan machine has been out of order for the past 15 days. What can we do in such a situation?” he asked.

Anwar Jan, 80, mother of Pervaiz Khan, said she was requesting the doctors to attend to the injured but it did not bear any response. She also lamented that the feud was between the people of her family. “Pervaiz Khan is my son and Nadeem Khan (from the rival group) is my son-in-law,” she said.  The names of injured admitted in BBH are Pervez Khan, Chan Zeb, Safdar Khan, Hafeez Khan, Shafique Khan, Rasheed Khan, Snobar Khan, Semmi Jan, Saeeda Bibi, Rehana Bibi, while Safdar Khan, Shama Bibi, Nazima Bibi and Zeenat Bibi were admitted to the DHQ. “The condition of Pervez Khan, Rasheed and Hafeez is critical,” police confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Civil Lines Police registered an FIR and started investigations. Police said eight people were arrested, while the rest of the injured were declared under police detention in the hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2010.