GUJRAT: Police booked at least 234 people mainly belonging to different factions of the Kotla group of PML-N MNA Abid Raza and his elder brother Naeem Raza for attacking PML Q’s Chaudhry Musa Elahi at the Kotla Civil Hospital in Kharian area on Monday.

The case has been lodged under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 16 of Maintenance of Public Order 1960 on the report of Kakrali Police Station SHO Tanveer Abbas Bhatti.

Former PML-N MPA Shabbir Kotla also lodged an application with the Kakrali Police Station for registration of a case against Musa Elahi and his supporters allegedly for firing at a large number of people gathered in front of the Kotla Civil Hospital to lodge protest against, what he termed, the illegal act of changing the name of Kotla Civil Hospital and inauguration of an unapproved upgrade of the hospital.

However, police said the case had been registered after initial investigation into the case.

34 nominated in case; attack occurred at inauguration of hospital project

Thirty-four people, including personal secretary of MNA Abid Raza, close associates of Naeem Raza and Shahid Raza, a former Nazim of Kotla Union Council, have been nominated in the case whereas around 200 suspects are unidentified. Thirty suspects nominated in the case obtained their bail before arrest on Tuesday from the court of Kharian Additional District and Sessions Judge Ameer Mukhtar Gondal until Jan 25.

Police said no arrest could be made; however, empties of firearm shots have been collected from the crime scene. The protesting groups had objection to renaming the hospital as Zahoor Elahi Shaheed Tehsil Headquarters Hospital after its upgrade and Musa Elahi inaugurated the project after which the protesters pelted him and others in the ceremony with stones to register their protest followed by alleged aerial firing by the security guards of Elahi to disperse the protesters.

All this happened in the presence of a large number of personnel from Kharian police.

Interestingly, the Kotla brothers who were divided into three different groups for the last 15 years got united on the issue of changing the name of the hospital. Naeem Raza and his younger brother Shahid Raza had been associated with the PML-Q until Monday’s violent clash since the other four brothers, led by Abid Raza, had parted their ways with Naeem during the 2008 general election after political differences.

Naeem Raza had once been the adviser to Punjab CM Chaudhry Parvez Elahi in his previous stint of 2002-07 whereas Shahid Raza Kotla had been elected as PML-Q’s nazim from Kotla Union Council in 2005.

The Abid Raza group then won NA-71 election in 2013 and 2018 as well as the Punjab Assembly seat in 2008 and 2013.

Speaking to the local media, Naeem Raza announced reconciliation with all his brothers by ending differences, saying they were united in protecting the rights of the people of Kotla. He said the land for the Kotla hospital was donated by the locals who were not ready to allow the change of its name.

Ex-MPA Shabbir Kotla said he had brought the situation into the notice of Gujrat deputy commissioner and district police officer hours before the incident to let the authorities know about the reservations regarding the project.

On the other hand, Musa Elahi, the son of federal minister Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain, has been lobbying for support in NA-71 areas like Kharian, Sara-i-Alamgir and Kotla for the last four years. He had constructed two houses in Kotla and Sara-i-Alamgir to advance his political activities.

Addressing a press conference, Musa blamed the Abid Raza group for creating a law and order situation and opposing a public welfare project for which Rs2bn had been allocated. He said he had shown patience by not reacting violently to respond to the unrest created by the Kotla group and vowed to strive for the betterment of the masses.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2023

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