HARIPUR: A serving district and sessions judge was injured when his rivals opened fire at him here on Tuesday night, police and family sources said on Wednesday.

The judge received three bullets and was shifted to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad, where his condition is stated to be out of danger, hospital and police sources said.

The motive behind the attack on the judge was an old enmity, the police said.

Police quoted the injured Farid Khan Alizai, a resident of Chohr Shareef village here, and who is currently serving as the district and sessions judge, Kohistan, left for the village’s mosque to offer night prayers on Tuesday.

They said when he was a few yards from the main entrance of the mosque, three brothers, Ghayyur, Jehangir and Shabbir, from the same locality opened fire at him with pistols, leaving him injured.

Another resident, Shahbaz abetted the attackers, the judge told the police.

The injured judge was first shifted to the Haripur Trauma Centre, where the doctors confirmed that he suffered three bullet wounds in his right thigh and left ankle and foot.

Later, he was referred to Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, where his condition is stated to be out of danger, the police and hospital sources said.

The motive behind the attack on the judge was an old rivalry between the two families that started in 2017, and the judge and his brother, Nasir Khan, were facing criminal trial in a local court, the police said.

Meanwhile, the city police station SHO Ijaz Ali Khan said an FIR under sections 324/34 and 109 of Pakistan Penal Code had been registered, and three out of the four nominated accused had been arrested, while raids were being conducted to nab the fleeing accused.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2024