SWABI, Oct 23 Three people, including a policeman, were injured in a scuffle between police and protesting internally displaced persons at a food distribution point of the World Food Programme at Kunda Mor here on Friday.

Eyewitnesses and the displaced people said police fired in the air and used batons against the IDPs, who retaliated by pelting the policemen with stones. Officials said policeman Shahbir Shah and two IDPs who names could not be ascertained were injured.

Of the five WFP distribution points in Swabi, only the one at Kunda Mor is providing food to the displaced people who are still staying in the district, either with friends or relatives.

Officials said the displaced people did not wait for their turn and tried to get the food items as early as possible. Eyewitness told Dawn that as compared with previous days there was a great rush and police tried in vain to control the situation.

The displaced people accused police and some staff of the distribution point of providing aid first to those who bribed them, adding that those who reached the point early in the morning had to wait in long queues. They claimed that when they brought the issue into the notice of police they got infuriated and took the action against them.

Police deployed there denied the allegation and said they used batons to disperse the IDPs as they were rushing towards the distribution point. They also denied having opened fire.

However, insiders in the police department conceded that police had opened fire.