SANGHAR: A fierce gun battle between police and Nizamani clansmen on Tuesday brought life in Sanghar city to a standstill with most markets, shops, business establishments, commercial outlets, fuel stations and hospitals remaining closed and vehicular traffic going off the road.

Police said they were attacked by ‘armed criminals’ hiding in a cinema and some clansmen living within the Nizamani Paro (lane) when a raid was carried out to arrest a few suspects wanted by the Shaheed Benazirabad police.

A strong contingent of the Shaheed Benazirabad police raided the house of Shahid Khan Nizamani, a former adviser to the chief minister, in the early hours of Tuesday to arrest the wanted men, they said. However, they added, some armed men taking position atop the nearby cinema opened fire on the policy party. This triggered a gun battle between the two sides, they said.

According to the police, some members of the Nizamani clan living within the locality joined in the battle in support of the attackers.

Reports from the area suggested that residents of the area, who included members of the Nizamani, Khaskheli, Mangrio, Yousafzai and other communities, took to the streets in protest against the police action. The police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse them but had to retreat.

In the afternoon, armoured personnel carriers were brought in to make way into the cinema and arrest the attackers, sources said. Sanghar SSP Dr Farrukh Ali told Dawn that it was a routine operation against criminals that led to a gun battle. He said that one of the wanted suspects and a few residents of the area from whose houses police were fired upon, had been taken into custody.

Shahid Nizamani, however, claimed that the police raided his house at the behest of his rivals in a land dispute. He said his rivals belonged to the Bugti tribe, and alleged that the police took away cash, gold jewellery and other valuables during the raid on his house.

No case was registered till the filing of this report late in the evening.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2014