GUJRAT: Three people, including a passer, by were gunned down and as many sustained injuries as a result of an indiscriminate fire by a rival group over old enmity in Phalia tehsil courts of Mandi Bahauddin district on Thursday.

Reports said that some unidentified armed men riding a car arrived in front of the Phalia courts compound and started firing at another car, killing Azad Zafar of Sargodha, Sikandar Gujjar of Gujrat and passerby Faisal Shahzad of Mano Chak, a village of Mandi Bahauddin. Three others, including Amjad Hussain and Javed Iqbal of Gujrat and an employee of car parking Muhammad Qasim sustained bullet injuries.

The assailants fled the scene as there was a stampede-like situation in the area.

The injured and deceased were shifted to the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital in Gujrat.Official sources said that an additional district and sessions judge of Phalia had written a letter to the Mandi Bahauddin DPO for enhancing the security arrangements a few days ago.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2023