Muzaffarabad, July 11: Eight people, closely related to each other, were gunned down by their rivals in the southernmost Bhimber district of Pakistan Administered Kashmir Wednesday in what is being described as a worst incident of violence in the region in many years.
 The deceased were heading in a double cabin pickup to Bhimber city from the town of Samahni to appear before the court of district and sessions judge in connection with a last year’s murder case when they were ambushed by their rivals, who also belong to their family, near Groohn village, police said.
 The assailants opened a volley of fire on the double cabin, killing all of its occupants on the spot, police official Muhammad Khalil told this correspondent from Samahni over telephone.
 The assailants fled from the scene but Muhammad Sarwar, a relative of the deceased who was also heading to Bhimber in a separate vehicle, had identified them as Altaf and Shahbaz, sons of late Raja Mushtaq, in the FIR, he said.
 According to Khalil, the alleged assassins believed that the deceased were involved in the murder of their father in July last year.
 The deceased, who were going to appear before the court in the same case, were identified as Mumtaz Khan, son of Sandal Khan and his sons, Ayaz, Gohar and Shahzad; Amjad and Mubeen, sons of Muhammad Ilyas; Bilal, son of Ilyas and Shamraiz, son of Naib Khan.
 Witnesses said that soon after the incident additional police force was called in from Bhimber as the relatives of the deceased and other residents of the area blocked the road outside civil hospital Samahni, demanding arrest of the killers.
 However, police and district administration officials negotiated with them, holding out assurances that the murderers would soon brought to justice. Khalil said though the atmosphere in the area was tense but the situation was under control.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST