Land Dispute Leads To Violence Outside Charsadda Court, Raising Security Concerns Among Lawyers

(MENAFN- Tribal News Network) Charsadda – A land dispute between two parties turned violent outside the Charsadda Judicial Complex on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of three people and injuries to five others. The incident occurred at around 11 a.m., shortly after both groups appeared in court for a hearing related to the case.

According to City Police, the clash took place when members of both parties, hailing from the Ghazgi area, came face-to-face outside the court. The victims from the first group have been identified as Nasir, son of Kiramat, while the second group's casualties include Aslam, son of Ghandal Khan, and Dr. Javed Iqbal. The injured include Mansoor and Muhammad Bilal, sons of Kiramat, and Zahoor Jan from the first group, while Yousaf, son of Mir Akbar, and Muhammad Adil, son of Basheer-ud-Din, from the second group, were also wounded.

Senior journalist Sabz Ali Khan Tareen, who had been mediating between the two sides, told TNN that the dispute originated after Fakhr-e-Alam from the first group divorced his wife and remarried. The land given to his first wife as her haq mehr was under the control of the second group. A court ruling eventually ordered the land to be returned to Fakhr Alam's group, but tensions rose when the second group demanded compensation in the form of agricultural land, which the first group had largely sold off, leaving them with only five and a half acres.

Also Read: Closure of NADRA Office in Landi Kotal Leaves Citizens in Distress

This land dispute led to a previous exchange of gunfire between the parties, but no casualties were reported at that time. A case was registered at Umarzai Police Station, and both groups were appearing in court to seek bail when the deadly altercation occurred outside the judicial complex.

Police arrived swiftly at the scene, arresting five suspects and seizing weapons used in the clash. The Charsadda Bar Association condemned the incident, calling it alarming for the judiciary and expressing concerns over security at the judicial complex. Khalid Khan Durrani, former vice president of the association, stressed the need for stricter security measures, noting that the complex is located in a sensitive area, with the District Police Office on one side and the Police Lines behind it.

Durrani added, "Such incidents, both inside and outside the complex, make lawyers feel unsafe. The free use of firearms in such areas is the police's responsibility to prevent, yet gunfire erupts here openly, putting our lives at risk."

The Charsadda Police spokesperson, Safi Jan, confirmed that five suspects had been arrested, and further arrests would follow after the case is registered. He emphasized that security inside the judicial complex is already tight, with surveillance cameras in place, and assured that new strategies will be developed to prevent similar incidents outside the complex.

It is worth mentioning that in 2021, two shooting incidents inside the judicial complex resulted in the deaths of four individuals, including a woman.

MENAFN10102024000189011041ID1108764775