KARACHI, Aug 4: A union council Naib Nazim along with police officials on Sunday allegedly asked the mourners for illegal gratification for burying a dead person in a cemetery in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

He allegedly forced the mourners to take the body somewhere else if they did not pay the amount, sparking off a brawl. As a result, the mourners had to bury their beloved one at a Model Colony graveyard.

Saifullah told Dawn that his father Misbahul Islam, who had been a senior journalist, suffered a brain haemorrhage and was admitted to Darul Seht where he died on Sunday morning.

He said his cousin arranged a grave at a cemetery in Pehalwan Goth in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. When they brought the body along with hundreds of mourners to the graveyard to bury his father, Naib Nazim Qamar Ali Bangash of UC-10, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, demanded Rs25,000 before burial. He ordered the grave-digger to close the grave. A brawl between the UC Naib Nazim and the mourners ensued.

Saif said he argued with the Naib Nazim as to why he was demanding the money on which the Nazim said that Rs10,000 was for him and Rs15,000 would go to the station house officer of the police station. When he refused to pay the money saying that he was ready to pay the government fee only, the Naib Nazim called the police and forced the mourners to take away the body from the graveyard. He accused the UC Naib Nazim of allegedly selling out the graves and looting innocent people. He said the body was later taken to Model Colony graveyard where Misbahul Islam was laid to rest.

The matter was brought to the notice of TPO Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, who placed ASI Javed under suspension and ordered that an inquiry be initiated.

The mourners asked the City government and the police to take stern action against the UC Naib Nazim, Qamar Ali Bangash, and police officials involved in the incident.