BAJAUR: The district police filed a first information report (FIR) on Saturday against seven individuals, including two senior PTI activists and a close relative of MNA Mubarak Zab Khan, for violence that occurred during final of a cricket competition on last Friday night at a local sports complex.

The incident resulted in one fatality and seven injuries, including three police officers.

A police official told Dawn that an FIR was registered at the Khar police station on the compliant of ASI Lal Rahman who was on duty at the sports facility when the incident occurred.

According to the FIR, a copy of which is also available with Dawn, the seven accused included Mian Habib Gul, Fazal Ameen Salarzai, Suliman Khan, Gul Munir Azad, Muhib Danish Ishaq Zia and Feroz Shah.

It stated that the aforementioned accused were charged under sections 322, 324, 353, 148, and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for converting a non-violent sporting event into a violent one, stealing, and destroying furniture and other facilities at the sports complex .

The cases against the aforementioned suspect had been filed in accordance with the footage of the incident that went viral on various social media platforms, another local police officer said. He indicated that in addition to the aforementioned suspects, a number of other people were also participating in the incident; once they were identified in the video, charges against them would also be filed.

The police stated that they had intensified their efforts against everyone engaged in the Friday incident that killed a 50-year-old named Fazal Wahid and injured seven others, including three police officers. The police sources stated that six people had been arrested so far and multiple police teams were organised to raid the homes and locations of the suspects in an effort to apprehend them as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Mian Habib Gul claimed in a social media post that a group of police officers had raided his house the previous evening. It said that even though he wasn’t home when it happened, his family members had been agitated by the cops.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2024