SARGODHA, March 16: Additional District and Sessions Judge Tanveer Akbar ordered Bhera police on Tuesday to lodge an FIR of double murder against a former MNA and his associates , who had allegedly killed two persons going to seek justice in court on March 10 last.

Earlier, Bhera police had registered a case against six men, the two deceased among them, under section 324, 341, 148, 149 PPC on the complaint of Ghulam Raza despite the fact that the latter's party had shot the two.

Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Nazir Panjutha were shot dead when they were returning home after appearing in court in a case. Information gathered by this correspondent revealed that Nazir Panjutha had dispute over a piece of land with Bhalwal ex-MNA Adnan Hayat Noon.

The complainant said six armed men, including Nazir Panjutha, Muhammad Iqbal, Farid and Samar, attacked the MNA's men - Malik Safdar Iqbal, Jehangir, Shahbaz and he himself (Ghulam Raza). In self defence, he said, those attacked also returned fire due to which Nazir and Iqbal were killed while the others escaped.

Deceased Nazir's brother Ghulam Farid said on March 9 that a case was registered against Nazir and his other brothers on the charge of trespassing the bungalow of Malik Mazhar Hassan and thrashing his employees, including Muhammad Hayat, Muhammad Yar, and Muhammad Ehsan.

He claimed that it was a false case and his brother preferred to seek justice from court. He added that his brother was also critical of the attitude of the Bhera police SHO, who was involved in implicating him.

He alleged that he submitted a written application to the SHO on March 10, stating that about 1pm Nazir, along with Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Yar, was going on a motorbike towards Sargodha.

Reaching near the outhouse of Adnan Hayat, a grandson of former prime minister Sir Feroze Khan Noon, eight men armed with lethal weapons, including Mr Noon, shot dead Nazir and Iqbal.

He alleged that the Bhera police avoided registering a case of double murder against the culprits. Meanwhile, the aggrieved party approached the district and sessions judge and requested him to get a case registered against the eight suspects.

The judge directed the additional district and sessions judge to take up the matter after which he ordered registration of a case against the suspects. According to some locals, Iqbal was a proclaimed offender and wanted by police in different cases while Nazir also didn't enjoy good reputation in the area. However, it was confirmed that the deceased had an enmity with the Noon family.

On the other hand, a member of the Noon family alleged that the deceased had planned to commit a dacoity and were killed by the firing of guards on duty. He said neither Malik Adnan Hayat Noon nor Malik Azam Hayat was present. The DPO was not available for comments when this correspondent tried to contact him.