SHIKARPUR: Six people were killed in two armed clashes involving rival tribesmen on Tuesday taking the death toll in their three-year-old hostility over a piece of land in the kutcha area near Lakhi Ghulam Shah to 18.

Reports from the area suggested that a group of people belonging to the Junejo tribe allegedly shot dead two persons, Ghulam Qadir Magnejo and Muneer Ahmed Magnejo, in an attack that triggered a gun battle in Gul Mohammed Hothi village early in the morning.

The area falls within the jurisdiction of the Sharif Kharoos police station.

Soon after the clash, armed men belonging to the Magnejo tribe challenged their rivals in the Faqirabad area within the kutcha land falling within the remit of the 20-Mile police station.

In the second clash, four more persons lost their lives and three others were wounded.

The deceased victims were identified as Nizamuddin Junejo, Imdad Ali Junejo, Zaheer Ahmed Magnejo and Hidayatullah Magnejo.

A strong contingent of police led by the Larkana DIG Larkana and three DSPs rushed to the area and brought the situation under control.

The police collected the bodies and handed them over to their respective heirs after a post-mortem examination at a nearby government hospital.

According to the police, the two tribes had been at odds over the ownership of a piece of land for about three years and had been attacking each other.

They said that at least 18 people had been killed and many others wounded in the attacks.

While all those involved in the clash managed to escape leaving behind their dead fellows, police arrested one of the three wounded victims. He was identified as Ghu­lam Nabi Junejo.

Shikarpur SSP Saqib Ismail Memon, speaking to the media, claimed that almost all the deceased and wounded victims had a criminal record.

He said the arrested suspect was wanted by police in at least 16 cases of heinous crimes including murders, attacks on police parties and dacoities.

The SSP told Dawn that Nizamuddin Junejo was wanted by police in five murder cases registered against him at the 20-Mile, Jamalpur and Gaheja police stations in the district while Ghulam Qadir Magnejo was nominated in one murder case.

He said two other deceased clash victims, Muneer Ahmed Magnejo and Hidatullah Magnejo, also had criminal record but details about the cases were being collected from the police stations concerned.

He said one of the suspects involved in the clash, Nisar Ahmed Tagar, was a declared absconder in a murder and possession of illegal arms case registered against him at the Ahmedpur and Wada Machi police stations of Khairpur Mirs town.

The SSP said that police teams were on a hunt for all those involved in the clashes.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2015

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