SHEIKHUPURA, Sept 4: Seven members of the Jehangir group were gunned down while two others were critically injured in an ambush allegedly by their rivals belonging to the Thatta Ali and Thatta Nashtar villages, some 32 km from here, on Monday morning.

Nawaz, Ilyas, Ghazanfar, Khyzar Hayat, Noshair, Amir, Jehangir, Habib and Ulfat of the Jehangir group were going to Sheikhupura in a jeep to appear before the additional district and session’s judge in connection with a murder case. The unidentified attackers, believed to be members of the Qaisar Bhatti group, had been hiding behind a tractor-trolley parked on the road. As soon as the jeep passed through there, the latter opened fire as a result of which Nawaz, Ilyas, Ghazanfar, Khyzar, Noshair, Amir and Jehangir were killed on the spot while Habib and Ulfat were critically injured.

A police contingent, led by DPO Aslam Tareen, arrived there and had the bodies sent to a mortuary.

Later, both the injured were taken to a hospital in Lahore.

The residents of the area where the ambush took place told police that the Qaisar Bhatti group had killed members of the Jehangir Bhatti group.

The DPO said the accused would be identified soon and arrested.