RAHIM YAR KHAN: Armed dacoits killed a farmer’s son for refusing to pay extortion in the Katcha area of Machka, near the Punjab-Sindh border, on Saturday.

Reports said that Abdul Wahid, 22, of the Sailra clan, was irrigating sugarcane fields in Mauza Sikandar Chachar when a group of dacoits arrived and shot him dead before fleeing towards the Katcha area of Sindh.

The victim’s family took his body to THQ Hospital Sadiqabad, where they revealed that they had been receiving threats from the Shar dacoit gang demanding extortion. As they refused to comply, the gang allegedly killed the youth.

The family also staged a protest outside the hospital, demanding the arrest of the culprits.

Meanwhile, police registered an FIR and claimed that the killing was linked to an old enmity between the Shar and Sailra clans.

According to FIR No. 10/25, registered at Machka police station, six suspects, including Zahoor Shar, Jahangir Shar, Shaheen Shar, Ghulam Shar, and two unidentified persons, were nominated under Sections 302, 148, 149, and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025