SUKKUR, Jan 6: Three kidnapped women of the Bhatti clan were handed over to Syed Irshad Hussain Shah in Ghotki area on Monday after District Nazim Sardar Ali Gohar Mahar held talks with the warring Bhatti and Buriro clansmen.

The women - Jamila, Nooran and Samreen - were kidnapped by the Buriro clansmen 20 days ago in retaliation for the earlier kidnapping of their two women by the Bhattis.

The Bhattis will also hand over the kidnapped Buriro women, Moomal and Najma, to Mr Shah. The five women will stay with the Syed till the resolution of a dispute between both the clans as it is a tribal tradition in Sindh that kidnapped women are made to stay at the house of a Syed or a tribal chieftain till the resolution of a conflict.

The dispute is rooted in a marriage that took place 38 years ago when a Buriro clansman married a Bhatti woman against the will of her family. In retaliation, the Bhattis recently kidnapped his two daughters which led to the kidnapping of the Bhatti women and the mounting of tension between the two clans.

Meanwhile, the police have released 10 Buriro clansmen, including Suleman, Abdul Khaliq, Sardar Ahmed, Gul Mohammad, Mithal, Maula Bukhsh, Qadir Bukhsh and Khushi Mohammad, who were arrested to avert a bloodshed between the warring factions.