SUKKUR: Fiver people were killed and as many wounded when two rival groups belonging to the Domki community of Kandhkot -gathered at a mutually agreed place in Bakhshapur on Sunday to settle their dispute over a piece of land -fought a fierce gun battle for about half an hour.

While they were engaged in negotiations over the matter, a heated debate among some of them provoked shooting, reports from the area suggested.

The negotiators and a large number of other community members ran to safety and took shelter behind the many vehicles parked at the site.

According to police and area residents, two persons died on the spot and were later identified as Eiden Domki and Barkat Domki. Eight others sustained multiple bullet wounds during the clash. The area police were alerted but they could not enter the battle field, near the Blind railway crossing along the Indus Highway within the limits of the Bakhshapur police station, due to the exchange of heavy fire by the two sides.

The eight seriously wounded people could not also be shifted to a hospital during the gun battle. When the guns fell silent, the police moved into the area and transported the wounded people to the Bakhshapur Hospital.

Three of them, Pir Bakhsh Domki, Noor Ahmed Domki and Dhani Bakhsh Domki were referred to a major hospital in Rahim Yar Khan due to their precarious condition.

A late evening report said that all the three wounded persons had died before reaching the hospital.

The police said that they transported the other five wounded victims, Mukhtiar Domki, Tariq Domki, Zakir Domki, Alimuddin Domki and another man whose name could not be ascertained immediately, to the Kashmore Civil Hospital.

The Bakhshapur police said that the two sides had a dispute over possession of the piece of land for long and they had gathered at the site on Sunday to settle the matter.

Meanwhile, according to a notification, Kashmore SSP Irfan Ali Sammo has been given the charge of Shikarpur SSP and Shabir Ahmed Sethar has been posted as Kashmore SSP with immediate effect.

The transfer and posting came amid a massive police operation against gangs of dacoits in the riverine areas of three upper Sindh districts, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Shikarpur and Ghotki.