SUKKUR: A man, said to be mentally challenged and having a history of aggressive behaviour, was caught by his neighbours and handed over to the area police while he was about to kill his youngest son after stoning two elder ones to death in Dadpur Jagir village of Jacobabad district on Friday.

According to his neighbours, they rushed to the rescue of a small boy after hearing his screams coming from inside the house of Kesho Gulwani Jakhrani alias Dili Jan. They said they overpowered Dili Jan, who had gone berserk and was attacking his three children with stones, bricks and a knife, to save the small boy from being killed. They said Dili Jan`s two elder sons, Khan Jan, 9, and Gul Jan, 7, were lying unmoved with bleeding multiple injuries caused by stoning.

The neighbours called out police from the Mauladad station and handed over Dili Jan to them.

All the three children were rushed to the Jacobabad Civil Hospital wheredoctors pronounced Khan Jan and Gul Jan dead on arrival and admitted the surviving one, whose name could not be ascertained immediately, for treatment.

The two bodies were handed over to the children`s mother and her parents after a post-mortem examination.

Dili Jan`s wife and brother-in-law told local reporters that he was mentally challenged and had been under treatment at a Larkana hospital for long. The wife said she along with the children had left Dili Jan due to his aggressive and violent behaviour. She said she had been living with her parents but some time back, Dili Jan came to her parents` home and forcibly took away the three children.

Her brother pointed out that Dili Jan`s sister had also left his home due to the same reason.

After Dili Jan`s arrest, his in-laws and other relatives narrated the Friday ordeal to Jacobabad SSP Dr Sumair Noor Channa and the media. The SSP said the area police were investigating the entire episode. `I have been informed that Dili Jan had been nominated in several cases of petty crimes and violent behaviour registered against him at different police stations of the district in the recent past.

Clash leaves youth dead A youth was killed during a clash over a petty matter between two rivalgroups in Ghous Bakhsh Jatoi village within the jurisdiction of the Saddar police station of Jacobabad on Friday.

It was reported that the two sides first engaged in an altercation over a walking space across a plot and then attacked each other with clubs. A 26-year-old youth, Wali Mohammad, son of Abdul Karim Jatoi, sustained graveinjuries duringthe clash and died on the spot, area people and police said.

The police transported the body to the Jacobabad Civil Hospital for a postmortem examination. No arrests were made till late in the evening.

The bereaved family along with many other residents of the village took the body to the nearby section of the Indus Highway and demanded arrest of the killers. They lodged an NC at the police station against five alleged attackers, Ameer Bakhsh, Mohammad Mushtaque, Mohammad Ishaq, Ali Mohammad, Abdul Karim and Barkat Ali Jatoi.

The protesters placed burning tyres in the middle of the road near Trikundi Chowk to block movement of vehicular traffic before the police persuaded them to disperse peacefully on the promise that the culprits would be arrested soon.

In their complaint, Abdul Karim, Himmat Ali, Ramzan Jatoi and others claimed that the rival group attacked them and their homes leading to the death of Wali Mohammad and injuriesto severalotherpeople.

Brawl among children claims boy`s life A 10-year old boy lost his life after a brawl among children over a petty matter ended up in an armed clash between two groups, one belonging to the Jagirani tribe and the other to the Moreja clan in Gujo village, falling within the jurisdiction of the B-Section police of Khairpur district on Friday.

The deceased child was identified as Asif Ali, son of Shamsuddin Jagirani.

SHO Zulfiqar Ali Qureshi told local reporters that three suspects were arrested and an investigating into the matter was started.

Wall collapse kills four-year-old boy A four-year-old boy, Abdul Samad, son of Abdul Qayyum Shar, died after the wall of his patents` home collapsed and he was buried under the rubble in the Achhi Qubbiyoon village near Rohri taluka of Sukkur district on Friday.

Residents of the village said that the boy was playing outside the home when its wall collapsed all of a sudden.

The family, relatives and other people took out the boy from under the pile of rubble and transported him to the Gambat Institute of Medical Science (GIMS) but he succumbed to his injuries on the way.