LAKKI MARWAT: Five people, including three passers-by, were killed when armed men attacked their rivals, who were released from jail on Wednesday.

Sources said Syed Alam and Awal Khan were going to their home in Tajori village after being freed from the Lakki prison, when they were attacked in Baghban locality of the Lakki city.

The two men and a passer-by identified as Khadim received multiple injuries and died on the spot.

The sources said two other passers-by identified as Jehangir and Mohammad Gul also sustained wounds during the firing. They were shifted to the government city hospital, where they died.

The relatives of the deceased and the locals gathered in the hospital and protested against the absence of doctors there. Later, they took the bodies to Qazi Ishfaq Chowk, and blocked the Tajazai-Darra Tang Road for about three hours.

The protesters raised slogans against the doctors and held them responsible for the deaths. They said doctors were not present on duty in the emergency ward when injured men were brought there.

Activists of political parties also joined the protest demonstration to express solidarity with the bereaved families.

ANP leaders Latifullah Khan and Hamayun Khan Marwat condemned the incident and blasted the doctors for not performing professional obligations.

They said the provincial government had ordered transfer of DPO Abdul Rauf Baber from Lakki Marwat district without any replacement.

Meanwhile, the protesters ended their agitation late on Wednesday night when deputy commissioner Abdul Haseeb and DPO Abdul Rauf Baber reached the spot and assured them that the negligent doctors would face action. They also assured of arresting the culprits without delay.

The DPO assured that additional checking points would be established at the entry and exit points of the urban locality.

Later, the relatives shifted the bodies to back to the government city hospital for postmortem.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2021