HYDERABAD, July 10: Four landowners of Tajpur have appealed to the district administration to get their agricultural land vacated from what they called illegal possession by farmers.

The farmers were issuing threats and accusing them of having killed a young girl, said landowners Nawab Ghulam Rasool Leghari, Nawab Gulzar Leghari, Nawab Noor Ellahi Leghari and Nawab Initkhab Leghari at a press conference here on Monday.

They told newsmen that the girl had died of natural causes, but the farmers, who were Gados by caste, had pumped bullets in her body to present the death as a case of killing and lodged a fake FIR against them.

“The Gados used to live in mountains and settled in the surroundings of the Tajpur and Tando Allahyar districts after committing various crimes. Since they did not have agricultural land, they have occupied our land,” they said.

The landowners said they belonged to a respectable family and approached civil courts for getting their lands vacated.

The Gados had accused Nawab Azkar, who had filed the case in court against the occupation, they said. The case was pending in a court for 13 months while three other courts had decreed the case in their (Nawabs’) favour, they added.

The landowners said they owned the land since the era of the Mirs and the Gados did not have a single piece of paper to prove their right on it.

They accused farmers of staging the drama of the killing because they knew that they would lose the case.

They said Sadiq Gado, Nando Gado Soomar Gado, Mohammad Gado and Chakar Gado were involved in different criminal cases, adding that delay in disposal of cases by trial court and inaction of police had led to the occupation.