FAISALABAD: At least 10 people sustained bullet injuries on Monday in firing during a clash between the supporters of an MNA and an MPA, both belonging to the ruling PML-N, in the main Tandlianwala bazaar over “forced closure of shops”.

According to locals, some supporters of Municipal Committee chairman Mohammad Saeed, who enjoys backing of MPA Jaffar Ali, and president of Tandlianwala vegetables market, Ziaul Haq, supporter of MNA Rajab Ali Baloch, clashed on Sunday night when an armed group allegedly attacked a petrol pump owned by Mr Haq.

Following the attack, Mr Haq’s supporters staged a demonstration on Okara-Tandlianwala Road, demanding action against the “attackers”.

Police held talks with the protesters and assured them of action against the suspects. However, when police took no action against the suspects, Mr Haq’s supporters, with the help of Anjuman-i-Tajran, announced a strike, resulting in closure of shops in the bazaar on Monday. On being informed of the strike, supporters of Mr Saeed turned up in the bazaar and told shopkeepers to open their shops, ensuing a clash between the two sides.

During the clash, a man armed with an automatic rifle opened indiscriminate fire, leaving 10 people injured. According to eyewitnesses, the armed man, said to be a guard of MPA Jaffar Ali, kept firing in the air amid cries of the injured, who were later shifted to Tandlianwala Teshsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital.

The witnesses said a special person who was on a tricycle narrowly escaped the firing.

Some traders of the bazaar, seeking anonymity, said the Monday clash occurred because of negligence of area police that neither registered a case against those who attacked Mr Haq’s petrol pump, nor bothered to take precautionary measures following the Sunday night clash between the two parties.

They said Mr Saeed and Mr Haq were friends and business partners but turned political rivals during the last local bodies elections.

After the firing incident, the traders staged a demonstration and a sit-in on Faisalabad-Okara road and chanted slogans against police and the MPA.

A heavy contingent of police reached the protest scene and cordoned off the area to avert more violence.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has sought a report from police about this incident and directed the officials concerned for arrest those responsible for the firing incident. A police officer said two suspects, including the one who resorted to firing, had been taken into custody. However, he refused to give names of the detained people.

MPA Jaffar Ali denied having any link with the firing incident. He also denied that the firing suspect was his guard.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2017