GUJRAT, Sept 5: Tension gripped Chak Sikandar in Kharian some 50km from here after a prayer-leader and his son were allegedly killed by members of a rival sectarian group on Thursday night.

According to the FIR lodged with Kharian police, seven men, including complainant Subedar Abdul Ghafoor, Mian Amir Qadri and his son Shabbir Hussain, Khadim Hussain, Tanvir Hussain, Sadaqat Ali and Zaman, were coming home on motorcycles after attending a meeting convened to finalize arrangements for a function at Al Fatah Markazi Jamia Mosque in Chak Sikandar on Sept 7 in connection with Qadiani Sheikh Raheel Ahmad’s acceptance of Islam.

The complainant alleged that near Bansarain, the motorcycle of Mr Qadri and his son Shabbir Hussain was intercepted by 10 persons who opened fire on it, killing both the riders on the spot.

The accused, Nasir Ahmad, head of Qadianis in Chak Sikandar, Idrees, Bashir, Basharat, Munir, Akmal, Ejaz, Abdur Rahman and two unidentified assailants, were said to have committed the crime with the abetment of Muhammad Sadiq and Mian Khan. The complainant alleged that two persons, Fateh Ali and Aslam, had heard and seen Sadiq and Mian Khan telling the accused to kill Maulana Qadri before the Sept 7 function.

The funeral of the slain was held in Chak Sikandar village on Friday amid tight security with a large number of people from all walks of life in attendance.

Local prayer-leaders condemned the incident in their Friday sermons and criticized the government for failing to maintain law and order in the district.

A visit to Chak Sikandar revealed that tension had gripped the locality where around 80 houses belonged to the Qadianis and 400 to the Sunnis.

Villagers told this reporter that the slain Qadri had also been a Qadiani before 1989 when he embraced Islam in the presence of Sultan Fiazul Hasan Qadri, who was then chairman of the Hazrat Sultan Bahu Trust.

A few months after his acceptance of Islam, an armed clash between the Qadianis and the Sunnis of the village occurred over possession of a mosque, they said. Three Qadianis, including a brother-in-law of Amir Qadri, and one Sunni, Ahmad Khan, died while over 70 houses of the two sides were reduced to ashes. The villagers alleged that police registered a case against 17 Sunnis including Mr Qadri, but none against the Qadianis. Mr Qadri was later acquitted of all charges.

A villager said that all the male Qadianis had fled the village for fear of arrest following the Thursday night incident.

Kharian DSP Raja Zafar said Nasir Ahmad, Bashir and Basharat had been arrested and police teams constituted for the arrest of the other accused. He said that a team of 20 policemen had been deployed in the village to control any untoward situation.

Quls for the slain would be arranged in Chak Sikandar on Sept 7.