SUKKUR: Two youths were shot dead at a teashop near toll plaza in Ghotki along National Highway on Friday triggering a protest by their families and community members.

The deceased were identified as Wakeel and Haleem, members of the Bhera community, which has been embroiled in an old enmity with the Ghoto community over several issues between them.

Ghotki police said that some armed men riding motorcycles drove up to the teashop and finding Wakeel and Haleem having tea there, opened fire on them and sped away. Both the victims died on the spot.

Their bodies were shifted to the Ghotki Taluka Hospital by police for a postmortem examination.

Soon after the incident, a large of number of Bhera community members along with other residents of the area took the bodies to the nearby section of the highway in a procession raising slogans against their rivals and police. They placed the bodies in the middle of the road and kept it blocked with burning tyres and junk for several hours in protest against the attack.

They demanded arrest of the unknown assailants but insisted that they belonged to the Ghoto community.

Several hundred people riding public transport and private vehicles remained stuck in long queues along both tracks of the road during the course of the protest.

About eight people have been killed and many others wounded in the Bhera-Ghoto hostility over the past six months.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2024