School teacher murdered in daylight, Ghizer-Chitral Road blocked in protest

Gilgit: In a shocking incident, a school teacher was murdered by unidentified assailants in the remote Batharet area of Phandar valley in Gupis tehsil of Ghizer district, Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday.

Sources said that the victim, identified as Niat Ameen, 30, had just finished his duty at the school and was on his way back home on a motorcyle with his niece, also a schoolteacher, when they were intercepted by unknown assailants.

The unidentified assailants blocked his path and, without warning, opened fire, fatally shooting him. The assailants fled the scene, taking the victim’s motorcycle with them, and escaped towards a nearby Nala, before abandoning the bike near the Batharet police checkpoint behind.

According to the sources, the police at the checkpoint failed to respond to the incident despite being alerted to the incident.

Following the teacher’s murder, the aggrieved family members and locals staged a protest, blocking the Ghizer-Chitral Road, a vital link between Gilgit-Baltistan and the neighbouring Chitral district, and placed his body on the road.

The victim’s family said that despite the incident occurring at noon, the police reached the crime scene several hours later and by then, the assailants had escaped into the Tangir Nala.

Relatives of the deceased lamented that such incidents have become all too common in Batharet and adjoining areas as according to them, culprits after committing such acts, often flee towards the Darel and Tangir valleys of the Diamer district, leaving police struggling to apprehend them.

The protesters demanded swift action against the perpetrators, calling for justice in the tragic case.

They said that they will not allow to open the road unless the culprits were arrested.

According to the sources, the protesters are demanding the Gilgit-Baltistan police chief to reach the crime scene to see by himself as the police have failed to provide security to the locals.

The incident serves as a grim reminder of the security challenges faced by remote areas like Batharet and the urgent need for law enforcement agencies to address such cases promptly and effectively.

The sources said that the police response to the incident was delayed and ineffective, as they sent only four policemen to arrest the two culprits several hours after the shooting. The sources added that the police lacked the resources and the will to pursue the criminals, who often escaped to the Darel valley, a notorious hideout for terrorists and outlaws.

The killing of Ameen is not an isolated case, but part of a pattern of violence and lawlessness that plagues Batharet and other remote areas in Phandar valley.

According to the sources, at least 23 people have been killed in these areas in the last couple of years, mostly by gunmen who attacked them in broad daylight and fled to the nearby Nalas, where they could evade the police.

The sources said that the police at the checkpoint near Batharet were often passive and indifferent to the crimes happening in their vicinity. They said that the locals had lost faith in the police and demanded more accountability and transparency from them.

 

Web Desk