ISLAMABAD, July 29: Four villagers were killed and over 57 others, including police personnel, injured on Monday in a violent clash between police and the residents of Sri Saral and Pind Sangrial villages at Golra here in the federal capital.

The dead were identified as Mohammad Latif, Haq Nawaz, Atif and Razia Bibi. But the death of woman could not be officially confirmed.

PIMS Hospital sources said the injured included Police Superintendent Taimur Ali Khan, Magistrate Amjad Bukhari, Additional Deputy Commissioner Joudat Ayaz, 20 policemen, six women police officers, two CDA officials and many villagers. One of the injured is said to be in critical condition.

Rao Mohammad Iqbal Khan, the assistant inspector-general of police, claimed that it was a pre-planned attack on police.

“Over 70 people involved in the clash have been arrested and cases are being registered against them,” Mr Khan said.

The injured, mostly police personnel, were shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

Some of the injured villagers complained that they had been ignored by the rescue police who were only taking the policemen to the hospital, they claimed.

The death toll and the number of injured could rise as the police were not allowing the rescuers, Edhi workers and other helpers to enter the affected area.

A woman, whose husband was killed in the incident, along with some other women of the area, had held two policemen hostage and demanded release of the arrested villagers. Later, the police had to fulfil their demand to get their men released, a spokesman for the police said.

The clash between the villagers and police erupted at about 12.15pm when the CDA staff, led by Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, along with a team of policemen arrived the Sri Saral village to start the construction work of a road in the D-12 sector.

The interior minister had last week inaugurated the uplift work in the newly-developed sector.

The villagers claimed that they had not been paid compensation for their land on which the new sector was being developed.

Masood Shah, a CDA worker who also sustained injuries in the clash and was admitted to PIMS Hospital, said: “The construction work was about to start when a large number of villagers, most of them carrying sticks and batons, came out of their houses and started quarrelling with the CDA and police personnel.” And soon they had started beating the policemen and CDA staff, and also pelted stones on them, he said.

An injured villager told Dawn in the hospital that the police had fired tear-gas shells, which charged the men, women and children. When the police saw situation getting out of control, they opened fire and soon the lush green fields of Sri Saral turned into a battle field.

The fight continued for about three hours, the spokesman for the police said.

About 20 vehicles, including 12 belonging to Islamabad police and two motorbikes of the CDA, were damaged during the clash. The jeep of the former SSP, Nasir Khan Durrani, was also damaged.

“I don’t exactly know what happened later. After suffering from injuries, I fainted and found myself on a hospital bed,” said Haq Nawaz, an injured policeman.

During the clash, SP Taimur Ali Khan also received an injury in his leg.

The top police officials requested for military help when at one stage they saw police personnel, led by SP Saddar Circle, trapped by the villagers, but soon the situation changed. In the meanwhile, a reinforcement of police force led by Taimur Ali Khan reached to rescue their comrades.

Relatives and friends flocked at the hospital corridors seeking news about their loved ones. Many newsmen from international media were prevented from talking to the injured people.

The policemen at the PIMS Hospital stopped people from having a glimpse of their relatives and friends.

None of the injured police personnel have sustained bullet injuries, which is contrary to the police claim that the villagers opened fire on them.