GUJRAT, Jan 19: At least six political workers were injured in a violent clash between Nawaz and Quaid factions of the Pakistan Muslim League's here on Wednesday over arrest of a disqualified MPA of the PML-N as the police looked the other way.

The row reportedly erupted when some three dozen PML-Q workers, led by former district nazim Chaudhry Shafaat Husain and former Punjab education minister Mian Imran Masood, gathered outside the offices of the Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, allegedly to hand over Haji Nasir Mehmood, also head of Shaheen Group of the GTCCI, to the police.

Mr Mahmood had been disqualified for his Punjab Assembly seat for submitting a fake graduation degree with his nomination papers to contest February 2008 general elections and was booked by Gujrat police on the orders of the Supreme Court. He had come to the chamber to attend a business community meeting.

As soon as the disqualified MPA came out of the chamber office along with his supporters, the PML-Q workers started chanting slogans. The PML-N workers retaliated in the same manners, making the atmosphere tense. In the meantime, city DSP Malik Siddique Awan along with a small contingent reached the spot. On noticing presence of the police, PML-Q city president Haneef Haideri pounced upon Mr Mahmood in a bid to hand him over to the police.

A free-for-all then ensued between the two sides, resulting in severe thrashing of Mr Mahmood and Mr Haidri by the rival activists. The clash also left injured six workers -- Haneef Haideri, Waqas and Maqsood of the PML-Q and Irfan Butt, Malik Ahsan Mateen and an unidentified man of the N faction. Because of the clash, traffic on GT Road was thrown out of gear for some time.

During the whole episode, the police acted as a silent spectator. However, they later arrested the three injured workers of the PML-Q following their medical treatment at Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital.

The police claimed to have recovered weapons from Haideri's car which was impounded. Later, speaking at separate news conferences, the leaders of both factions accused each others' workers of initiating the brawl.

In a late night development, the workers of Q and N factions of Muslim League again clashed at the main gate of the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital when three injured activists of the latter were brought there for medical examination by police.

Repots said the clash sparked between the two sides when the injured N workers confronted some Q activists who were already present at the hospital. The police again avoided to intervene in the clash. Meanwhile, Rehmania police have booked 15 nominated and 40 unidentified people for rioting.

Those who were booked included former district nazim Chaudhary Shafaat Hussain, former education minister Mian Imran Masood, PML Q city president Haneef Haideri. The case was registered under sections 364, 324, 427, 341, 148 and 149 of the PPC on the report of Adnan Iqbal, a member of the GTCCI.