Land dispute: Former MPA Bilal Khar, uncle accused of murder

Kot Addu police assure of arrests within 48 hours.

LAHORE: Former Punjab governor Ghulam Mustafa Khar’s son, former MPA Bilal, has been accused of murdering a young man, Muhammad Amjad aged 22, in Muzaffargarh over a land dispute.

The alleged crime took place at 9.30 am on Sunday in the precincts of Kot Addu police station. Bilal has previously been accused of torture, murder and an acid attack on his ex-wife, Fakhra Yunus, in 2000; in October 2002, he was arrested with reference to this case, but released in 2003.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued summons in April for Khar to appear in court on Monday (today), to file his reply to the petition seeking re-trial of the case as human rights groups challenged the suspect’s acquittal by the sessions judge, saying four eyewitnesses refused to identify Bilal in the trial court due to his ‘influence’. On April 15, Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, who headed the bench, ordered the respondent to file a response either personally or through his lawyer by May 5.

An FIR was lodged at Kot Addu police station by Haji Dildar Hussain Ludhani, the deceased’s father and a member of the Ludhani tribe, on Sunday. Hussain stated that on the day of the crime, he was present on his lands with his son and three members of the Ludhani tribe, Saif Ullah, Qaim Din and Ashiq, all residents of Mauza Bait Angrah, as Hussain’s wheat crop was being threshed.

The lands Mauza Bait Angrah, borders the Khar family’s land in Mauza Khar Gharbi and the threshing machinery was reportedly close to Khar’s land.

Hussain says Bilal and his uncle Malik Ghulam Murtaza Khar, accompanied by armed men, reached the spot on a jeep and accused Dildar Hussain of stealing wheat from Khar land. Hussain claims that Malik Murtaza shouted, “We will teach you a lesson” before Bilal opened fire at them.

A bullet hit Hussain’s son Amjad in the head. The FIR states that Malik Murtaza opened fire and as Amjad fell to the ground, threatening, “If any of you try to resist, you will be treated like Amjad.” Hussain says the Khar men then left the scene of the crime.

Subsequently, a large group of members of the Ludhani tribe, residents of Mauza Bait Angrah, reached the tehsil headquarters and blocked the road in front of the hospital by placing Amjad’s body on the road. The protestors then reached Kot Addu station and blocked the main GT Road and two other link roads. MNA Jamshed Dasti reportedly joined the protestors.

The group dispersed after eight hours of protest only when police assured them that those accused of the crime would be arrested within 48 hours. FIR No258/14 was registered under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against former MNA Malik Murtaza Khar, former MPA Bilal Khar and an unidentified accused.

The FIR states that the two parties were engaged in a dispute over land in Mauza Bait Kalu Wala and a case of Haq Shufa – a term connoting dispute over land ownership – is ongoing.

Speaking with The Express Tribune, Amjad’s father Dildar Hussain said that a dispute regarding land-grabbing by Murtaza Khar was resolved last year through a jirga called by Mustafa Khar; the jirga reportedly judged in Dildar ’s favour.

Hussain says ‘there is no single marla of land of the Khars in Mauza Bait Anghrah’, saying the clan owns land in Mauza Khar Gharbi.

He said that Murtaza Khar had tried to stop the harvest of wheat on the disputed land and previously accused Hussain’s family of stealing honey from his property. Hussain alleges that Murtaza Khar beat his nephew, Saifullah, and son Amjad at the time.

DSP Haji Ashiq Hussain Khosa told The Express Tribune that initial investigations pointed to Murtaza and Bilal Khar as the main suspects. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2014.