TIMERGARA, Aug 23: Two cousins were killed when their rivals opened indiscriminate fire on them at Mania Shorsheng area of Asbanr on Thursday, residents and police told Dawn.

They identified the victims as Saeedullah and his cousin Nasim Khan. Relatives of the dead charged four persons -- Salim, Hazrat Iqbal, Bakhtiar and Jamal -- with the double murder.

They told the Asbanr police the accused opened indiscriminate fire after exchange of harsh words with the victims over a monetary dispute. The accused escaped from the scene.

The Station House Officer of the Asbanr police station Haidar Zaman told Dawn on contact that raids were being conducted for arrest of the killers. He said the dispute among the rivals had started when they were in Saudi Arabia. The police registered the case and started investigation.

ANP AND ELECTION: Central leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami and former provincial senior minister Sirajul Haq on Thursday claimed the ruling Awami National Party would get no seat in the next general election.

Addressing a public gathering at Gandheri Jandool the JI leader blamed the ANP and PPP for the current crises and said the rulers were deceiving people in the name of peace and Pakhtun rights.

More than 150 families led by Maulana Din Mohammad and Qari Saeedul Haq on the occasion joined the JI while quitting the ANP and PPP. Those who joined the JI included Malik Ajdar Khan, Malik Dilbar Khan, Malik Sher Wali Khan, Malik Ghulam and Malik Shah Nazar.

Mr Siraj said days of the ANP had been numbered and it would never get any seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during next election. He said people of the province were fed up with present rulers and wanted immediate change. “The province has been facing power outages, inflation, unemployment, price hike and corruption,” he alleged, adding rulers had nothing to do with poor people of the province.

Referring to burning of a holy book in Samar Bagh Jandol, the JI demanded exemplary punishment to the culprit. He said elements with vested interests wanted to involve the JI in the matter but they would never succeed in their design to defame the party.