CHAKWAL, May 20: A retired army major shot injured two children for picking apricots planted in the lawn of his house in Ghaziyal village in the limit of Duman police station, Dawn learnt on Friday.

The two children received serious bullet injuries and are being treated at DHQ hospital while the accused is still at large.

Fazalul Haq and Manzar Ali, two brothers of Ghaziyal village said that their children Shahzeb Jamal, 8, and Shahbaz Jamal, 7, were passing through the street where the house of the former army major, Mohammad Ijaz, was located and the apricot plants were hanging in the street.

The two cousins picked some fruit. At this, Mohammad Ijaz, who was watching the boys from the window, opened fire at them with his pistol injuring them seriously.

“As I heard the sound of the bullet, I tried to run away but I fell down”, said eight-year-old Shahzeb. He said that he was unaware what had happened with him. “I got shocked when I saw blood oozing out of my body”, the little boy said. He said that his cousin Shahbaz fainted as he received more bullets than him.

“Some villagers told me that Shahzeb and Shahbaz were lying injured beside a well”, says Fazalul Haq, father of Shahzeb.

He said as he heard the news he along with other members of the family rushed to the scene. “The two boys were lying sobbing while their clothes were soaked in blood”, he said. The two children were rushed to the DHQ.

“We received both the boys in critical condition”, Dr. Iqrar Hussain Shah told Dawn. He said that Shahbaz had to go through a surgery. “Both the boys received shots from chest to the waist”, said surgeon Iqrar Shah. He said at present both the boys were stable.

On the other hand, the poor parents said that the police were not arresting the accused retired major. “He is very influential person and the police are not arresting him”, said Manzar Ali, father of Shahbaz. They appealed to Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif that they should be provided justice. Dawn

When contacted, SHO Duman police station Tanveer Waraich told that a case of attempted murder had been registered against the accused. He said that police conducted a raid in Adiyala (Rawalpindi) where Major (retired) Mohammad Ijaz owned a house but he was not present there. “We are trying our best to arrest the accused and I hope we would nab him soon”, SHO said.