GUJRAT, May 21: An inquiry into Madina Syedan incident has been initiated in which 14 people were murdered and 16 others were injured last week.
Sources said the Punjab government had deputed provincial SSP (Investigation) Qamar Zaman to probe the matter from all possible angles and bring to light the true motive behind the incident.
Gujrat Sadar police have registered a case under sections 302/324, 148/149 and 6/7 ATA against eight nominated and six unidentified men. The nominated accused are Rafique Shah, his two sons Ajmal Abbas Shah and Islam Ali Shah, Shabbar Haider Shah, Babu Shah, Rizwan Ejaz alias Razi Shah, Ghazanfar Abbas and Naib Nazim Fazeelat Shah.
The slain were identified as Chaudhry Ishtiaq alias Shaqi of Gandhra, Chaudhry Mumtaz alias Bila Marrarr Puria, Nadeem Mukhtiar, Syed Jamal Hussain, Tahir Naveed alias Nanha, Imran, Wasif Haleem, Muhammad Anar, Ramzan, Shahid, Shahid Lateef, Tanvir Borra, Syed Ahmad Hasan Shah and Ashfaq. While the injured were identified as Ahmad Ali, Waseem Ahmad, Ghulam Muhammad, Syed Abu Bakar, Aftab, Nazim Hussain, Ashfaq Ahmad, Razzaq, Nazir Hussain, Tanvirul Hasan, Shahzad, Muhammad Zareef, Waqar Shah alias Bilay Shah, Tabassum Shah, Shabbir and Izhar Haider.
The complainant, Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool, is the father of slain Shaqi. Sources claimed that the inquiry officer had collected all the criminal record of slain Chaudhry Ishtiaq alias Shaqi to ascertain that whether any of his old rival availed the opportunity in this incident.
Shaqi, who was considered to be a symbol of terror and the front man of a Qabza group, had a long history in the field of crime. He remained accused in many cases of murder, attempted murder, police encounter and illegal arms.
He was also a nominated accused in a triple murder case that had been lodged with the Gujrat Sadar police station in 2000. Shaqi had allegedly killed Mehdi, Safdar and a man in Qadir Colony while the other nominated accused in that case was from Borra village.
However, Shaqi was absolved from the triple murder case by police when he took the plea that he was at a marriage ceremony in Sargodha at the time of incident. To prove his 'innocence', he also presented before the police a video cassette in which he could be seen in the marriage ceremony.
Shaqi was again nominated in a triple murder case of three expatriates in Lalamusa on Dec 5, 2003. The slain were Chaudhry Munawar Dhola and his sons Ghulam Hur Dhola and Qasim Dhola. The complainant of the case is Chaudhry Yasir Dhola, now the only son of deceased Munawar Dhola.
Shaqi was picked up by the Lalamusa police in that case when Nasir Cheema was the SHO. He had been kept for some days in the police station and, later, he was set free on the instruction of some hidden hands.
He was later declared a proclaimed offender by an Anti-Terrorism Court of Gujranwala, but he did not restrict his movement and used to roam freely in the district along with a large number of gunmen.
A few days before the Madina Syedan incident, he had succeeded in reconciliation with complainant Chaudhry Yasir Dhola and applied a bail application in the ATC whose next date of hearing was May 20. But he was murdered on May 15.
The other slain, Chaudhry Mumtaz alias Bila Marrarr Puria, was a prominent figure and belonged to a noble political family. He was a property dealer by profession and the younger brother of Chaudhry Altaf, a former district council member. He was also a sportsman and one of the better players of tent-pegging.
Another slain, Tahir Naveed alias Nanha, was a former contractor and recently settled in a foreign country. The Sadar police have picked up injured Waqar Haider alias Bilay Shah from a private hospital in Lahore, but he is not the nominated accused.
The inquiry officer met heirs of the deceased and recorded their statements. He also met the area people to take their version over the issue. Sources claimed that IGP Saadatullah Khan is likely to visit Gujrat next week to get Information about the incident. Soon after the incident, the DPO had directed all the SHOs to check the display of arms in their precinct and dealt the violators with iron hands.
