SWABI: Two people were killed and two others injured when rival groups exchanged heavy fire at the Panjpir bus stop on the Swabi-Jehangira Road here on Saturday, the police said.

SHO Swabi city police station Altaf Khan told Dawn that the cause of the incident was the murder of Kifayat Shah Bacha, a Pashto folksinger, who was killed in September last year.

He said that the deceased were identified as Shah Nizam Bacha and Babar Ali Bacha, both relatives of Kifayat Shah Bacha.

SHO Altaf Khan said that Nizam Bacha died on the spot, while Ali Bacha succumbed to injuries in the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.

He identified the injured as Fazalur Rehman, 25, and Mohammad Adil, also the relatives of the deceased folksinger.

The police officer said that the injured and the bodies were taken to the Bacha Khan Hospital Complex, Shahmansoor, for treatment and autopsy.

He said that the police had registered an FIR against Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Kachkul Khan and Umar Khayam on the complaint of Babar Shah.

The SHO said that none of the accused persons had so far been arrested.

Meanwhile, the police recovered the body of an unidentified man on Saturday.

When contacted, officials in Zaida police station said that they were informed by the locals about a body lying in the fields in Marghuz village. They said that the police recovered the body and shifted it to the Bacha Khan Hospital Complex, Shahmansoor, for autopsy. Later, the police registered an FIR and started further investigations.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2022