NOWSHERA/PESHWAR, Aug 8: An internally displaced person was killed and two women sustained injuries when the camp security staff deputed at a food distribution point in Jalozai Camp resorted to firing to disperse enraged mob during a stampede on Wednesday.

Sources said that a large number of IDPs from Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency were queuing up to receive food and hygiene kits from a local NGO when the beneficiaries started pushing and pulling each other at the distribution point. To control the rush of displaced persons, the camp security staff started firing and a bullet hit an IDP identified as Aslam Gul Afridi, son of Hazrat Gul, inside the tent where the distribution point had been established. The ill-fated Afridi was killed instantly, they said.

In the firing and subsequent stampede two displaced women Sofia Bibi and Niyagula Bibi also suffered wounds and were referred to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.

The FIR of the incident was registered against the accused at Pabbi Police Station. Two of the eight accused security staff members identified as Sanaur Rehman and Shah Alam were arrested and search for the rest was going on, the sources said.

Jalozai Camp in-charge Noor Akbar said that the incident happened during distribution of hygiene kits by a local NGO. He said that due to heavy rush of the affected people, the crowd went disorderly and started pelting stones at the distribution outlet. He said that it was premature to say who started the firing as the matter was being investigated.

After the incident, a large number of IDPs from Jalozai Camp gathered on Cherat Road and protested to condemn the incident. The IDPs, led by their Shura leader Gulbat Afridi, announced to stage a protest demonstration against camp security members on Thursday (today).

The body of Aslam Gul Afridi, who belonged to Akkakhel area in Bara tehsil, was handed over to his family members after autopsy at Mian Rashid Hussain Shaheed Memorial Hospital in Pabbi. A woman, Sofia Bibi, sustained bullet injuries while another woman Niyagula Bibi was injured during the stampede.

Meanwhile, the IDPs belonging to Bara tehsil placed the body of Aslam Gul on the main Sher Shah Suri Road and alleged that he was killed by police during distribution of food items in Jalozai Camp.

The protestors said that the victim was waiting along with other IDPs to get food items when security personnel opened fire on them. They blocked the main road to traffic for sometime and shouted anti-government slogans.

“The IDPs were standing in a queue and waiting for their turn to get a bag of food, but the situation went out of control due to unnecessary security measures in the camp and the security officials started firing on them,” one of the IDPs told reporters.