THATTA, May 6: Villagers caught a gang of land-grabbers and handed them over to police after they had levelled to the ground a portion of the remains of a 500-year-old seminary near Jhoke Sharif town, 48 kilometres from here on Tuesday.

The seminary, which was established by Makhdoom Sadaruddin, grandfather of Sufi saint Shah Inayat Shaheed, had acquired more historical significance due to the fact that the grandfather of great Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Shah Abdul Karim of Bulri who was himself a great Sufi saint, received his early education there.

Reports said that five armed men, who belonged to Peshawar, encroached upon the historical site and demolished a portion of the remains with a tractor.

When people in the nearby villages learnt about the incident, they reached there in the lead of renowned peasant leader Sufi Huzoor Bux and asked them to vacate the land but they refused and reportedly started issuing them threats.

As the confrontation escalated more people rushed to the site, who then managed to catch hold of the land-grabbers identified as Shamsur Rehman, Khan Afzal, Bashir Baz Khan, Syed Amir and Al-Amin and handed them to Bulri Shah Karim police.

Police registered a case against the accused under section 297, 506 and 504 PPC on the complaint of Sufi Huzoor Bux. Meanwhile, Tando Mohammad Khan DCO ordered inquiry into the incident and appointed DDO of Bulri Shah Karim as inquiry officer.