Young doctor killed, father injured in Mardan firing

MARDAN: A young doctor was murdered and his educationist father was injured in a firing incident in Katlang area of Mardan, family and police sources said on Tuesday. Dr Asfandyar Khattak was shot dead due to a dispute over the flowing of water from a mosque built by the slain doctor’s family to the fields of the accused.

The young doctor, who was posted to Mansehra to augment the medical team tackling the coronavirus pandemic, got married more than a year ago to a lady doctor belonging to Lasbela in Balochistan. The couple has a one-year old son. His father Taj Nabi Khattak, who is principal of Government Higher Secondary School in Hayasiri in Lower Dir district, was also shot at and wounded. He was critically injured and shifted to the Mardan Medical Complex where he was operated upon and was stated to be in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Taj Nabi Khattak, who is a grade 19 officer, had served as principal in other government schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and remained on deputation in Saudi Arabia in the field of education for five years. In his statement in injured condition, he identified the three men who fired at him and his son. The sources said that the accused Musharraf Khan and Ali Zar Khan alias Zaray, sons of Muhammad Sher and Hazrat Ali, son of Musharraf Khan, allegedly opened fire during a scuffle at Inzargay in Katlang around Iftar time on Monday. Dr Asfandyar Khattak died on the spot while his father was critically injured.

The slain doctor’s relatives refused to bury him until the accused were nabbed by the police and instead deposited the body in the mortuary of the Mardan Medical Complex.

The burial didn’t take place on Tuesday. Later, the police and local authorities persuaded the deceased’s family to bury his body and gave an assurance that every effort would be made to arrest the killers.

The Katlang Police Station have registered the case and started raids at various places to nab the accused, who absconded after committing the crime. According to local sources, the mosque was built by the slain doctor and his father.