SUKKUR: A young man who had sought police help in the recovery of his uncle, allegedly kidnapped by a rival group of his community over an old enmity, was killed under mysterious circumstances near Khanpur Mahar town of Ghotki district on Thursday.

The area police said that the youth, Gulsher Malik, was killed in a clash between the two rival groups of the Malik community after their raid in Achar Malik village to recover his uncle, Hassan Malik, drew a blank and the police party had already returned to the Khanpur Mahar police station. The police version came from SHO Zulfiqar Mahar, who spoke to the media to reject the aggrieved family’s claim.

The bereaved family earlier told the media that the police party deliberately took Gulsher Malik to the village to expose him to the kidnappers who tortured him to death in a “drama” in which the police party was also held hostage and beaten up by them.

Narrating the episode, Moham­med Bukhsh Malik, the deceased victim’s brother, said that Gulsher had gone to the police station to seek help in the recovery of his uncle. He was taken along by a police party riding a mobile van. When the mobile entered Achar village, a group of 20 armed men swarmed it and overpowered the police party.

The attackers disarmed the policemen and started beating them up. During the “drama” Ghulsher was dragged out of the mobile van and subjected him to torture, Mr Malik said.

Later, he said, they left Gulsher in a precarious condition and freed the police team, which called out reinforcement.

The attackers had already disappeared by the time the reinforcement reached the scene, he added.

Mr Malik said that the police took the seriously injured Gulsher first to the Khanpur Mahar police station, and then to Govt Shaikh Hamadan Hospital within the town and then to the Sukkur Civil Hospital, where doctors referred him to the Chandka Medical College Hospital but he succumbed to his injuries on the way.

Mr Malik named Ashiq Ali, Kaloo, Imamuddin and Shahid Hussain as the main suspects involved in the kidnapping of Hassan Malik and murder of Gulsher.

Insisting that Gulsher was killed in the post-raid clash between the two rival groups, SHO Zulfiqar Mahar said an FIR of the incident would be registered if the bereaved family approached him for the purpose.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2015

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