ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: People from a village blocked Murree Road at Bhara Kahu for six hours against a group of alleged land grabbers who attacked them earlier in the day outside the local police station and escaped.

The villagers blocked the road at 12 noon and dispersed only after the police registered a case against the group at about 6pm. No arrest was, however, made.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stuck for over six hours and people, including women and children, coming to and going out of the city were seen travelling on foot to reach their destinations.

The residents of Mahra Bhagwal village and the alleged land grabbers had been at daggers drawn over a piece of land owned by the forest department.

The police said that a week back Razi Khan had started construction of a boundary wall on the land, claiming that he had purchased it.

However, people living in the village tried to stop him and his group. The villagers claimed that they were the actual owner of the land but had surrendered it to the forest department. They still grazed their cattle and collected wood from the land.

Station House Officer of Bhara Kahu Mubarak Ali said the villagers later approached the police. In response, the police contacted the revenue department and requested it to determine the ownership of the land.

Later, officials from the forest department also came to the land and demolished the structure and asked the villagers to guard it, said the SHO.

On Wednesday, a meeting was schedule between the police, revenue and forest departments, the villagers and Khan, the alleged land grabber, to resolve the matter. However, the meeting could not be held as the forest department representative did not turn up.

“At about 9am on Thursday, some 12 to 15 people again reached the land and started firing into the air and the villagers also retaliated,” the police said. The firing continued for about four hours but nobody was injured.

After getting information, the police reached the spot and forced the attackers to escape.

Later, when the villagers came to the police station to lodge a complaint against the alleged land grabbers, they were intercepted by the group in front of the main gate.

Zia Abbasi, one of the villagers, alleged that someone from the police station had informed Khan about their arrival for lodging a complaint.

“Khan along with his men reached the police station, beat us and then dragged us out,” he said, adding the attackers then escaped as the police did nothing to arrest them.

After blocking the Murree Road, the protesting villagers refused to take the injured to hospital till the registration of the case against the attackers. When a police anti-riot team and officials from the city administration reached the spot, the protesters snatched the police van.

Later, in the evening, the police registered a case against the attackers after which the protesters dispersed.