SUKKUR: A quarrel between two rival groups belonging to the Mahar community lead to tit-for-tat attacks and ended up in the killing of two men in Khanpur Mahar town of Ghotki district on Sunday. Four other persons, including two women, were also wounded in the attacks.

The quarrel took place in the morning after one group objected to other group’s cattle driven into its fields for grazing in Uth Daro village within the limits of the Khanpur Mahar police station.

Hours after the quarrel, armed men belonging to one group went after Khawand Bakhsh, 35, and shot him dead while he was sitting in a teashop at Piyaro Lashari stop, paces away from the village. Two other persons, Mureed Mahar and Chhutal Mahar, also sitting in the tea shop, were wounded in the shooting. The assailants escaped from the scene.

As soon as Khawand’s family received the news about his murder, their relatives took up arms and proceeded to the house of Mubarak Mahar, 54, and shot him dead. His wife, Ms Hawa, and daughter, Sabhi, were wounded in the attack.

The bodies and injured were taken to the Shaikh Hamadan Bin Mohammad Hospital in Khanpur Mahar where doctors referred the injured persons to the Sukkur Civil Hospital due to their precarious condition.

None of the attackers was arrested till late Sunday evening.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2024