SHIKARPUR: Winner on PS-7 (Shikarpur-1) in the general elections 2018 on PPP ticket and former MPA Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh and his son Faraz Imtiaz Shaikh were handed over to police on Thursday for two days by Sixth Civil Judge Abdul Lateef Dahani in a firing case.

Police officer Ghulam Murtaza Mirani told this reporter that an FIR (67/2018) on behalf of the state had been lodged on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday against Imtiaz and his son Faraz Imtiaz under sections 324, 148, 149, 337H/2 at New Faujdari Police Station. They were produced before the court on Thursday morning and the judge handed them over to police, Mirani added.

Speaking to newsmen at the district and sessions court Shikarpur, Imtiaz Shaikh said it was a politicised case against him and his son and the matter would be dealt with legally.

On the day of election, an incident of firing took place in front of the District Council of Shikarpur where voting process was under way. During the firing a few persons, including a Brohi clan youth identified as Mir Hassan Brohi, sustained bullet wounds. He was immediately referred to a Sukkur hospital after being provided medical attention at the Civil Hospital of Shikarpur. Following the firing, armed forces took Mr Shaikh and Agha Taimoor, a GDA candidate, into protective custody to calm down the situation.

Later on, Agha Taimoor was released after some time.

Relations between members of the Brohi and Shaikh communities were already tense in Shikarpur after a son of advocate Shahnawaz Khan Brohi was shot dead over a trivial issue. In this regard, a case has been lodged against the nephew of Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh and his other accomplices at New Faujdari Police Station by Brohi tribesmen.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2018