HYDERABAD: Brother and nephew of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) member of Sindh Assembly beat up a pharmacy shop owner in Latifabad Unit-6 on Sunday night after verbal clash over parking of vehicle outside the shop. The pharmacist has lodged a report with B-Section police for legal action against his tormentors.

The complainant Abdul Khaliq Rajput said that Umer Siddiqui, brother of MPA Nadeem Siddiqui, had parked his car in front of the shop in Latifabad Unit-6 and walked to a nearby outlet to buy rotis while his family members sat in the vehicle.

After some time, he claimed, his employee requested Umer to leave some space for the customers who came to buy drugs at the shop from a nearby hospital. “It angered Umer and he traded hot words with the employee. Then I intervened and told Umer he had unnecessarily overreacted to the employee’s request,” Khaliq said.

Shortly afterwards, he said, Umer came back with a few men, grabbed him by the collar and slapped him repeatedly. Footage from a close circuit television camera in the shop that went viral afterwards showed that both Umer and MPA’s brother Nabeel Siddiqui had grabbed the shopkeeper and slapped him repeatedly before some customers intervened and saved Khaliq.

Khaliq said in an application submitted to the SSP complaint cell that when his employee spoke to Umer, he issued threats and left but after 10 minutes the man came back armed with a pistol, forced into the shop and beaten him up. He sought registration of an FIR against them.

But MPA Nadeem Siddiqui disputed the pharmacist’s version and said that Umer was waiting in the car after placing order for rotis at the shop adjacent to the pharmacy. He also shared a video of his nephew as he parked his car outside the shop. “In fact, Abdul Khaliq first hurled abuses at Umer which infuriated him and it led to the incident,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2022