Murder most foul: Retired brigadier, wife and two daughters shot dead

Police clueless about motive, suspect the victims were drugged before being killed.

RAWALPINDI:

A retired army officer, his wife and two daughters were found dead at their house in the garrison city on Tuesday.

Brig (retd) Sikandar Malik, an orthopaedic surgeon and principal of a private medical college, his wife Shahida Bibi and their two daughters — Fatima Sikandar, 20, and Zainab Sikandar, 23 — were shot dead late Monday night at their house in Gulistan Colony in Morgah area, police sources told The Express Tribune.

The brigadier’s son, Captain Haider Ali, was sleeping in a room on the first floor of the house and his brother was on the ground floor. Both of them remained unhurt.



Ali informed his uncle, Gen. (retd) Noor Khan, about the incident at 7:30am on Tuesday who called the police.

Police and rescue teams rushed to the scene along with a mobile forensic lab and collected evidence. They cordoned off the whole area and obtained finger prints, used bullet cases from the bedrooms and recorded the statements of the son and other relatives.

An army team, led by a captain, also reached the area and did not allow the media close to the crime scene.

The bodies were first taken to the Combined Military Hospital and then to District Headquarters Hospital where doctors conducted postmortems on them.

The police have registered a case against unknown assailants.

A police officer present at the crime scene, wishing anonymity, said it seems the victims had been given sedatives before being shot as they did not even move a muscle.



Ali also told police that the killers might have used their kitchen door as it would usually remain unlocked.

But the police officer said all doors were locked from inside when the authorities reached the site. He said the door of the room where the girls were sleeping was locked from inside and could not be opened without a key.

Ali, a doctor in the army’s medical corps, deputed at Kharian Cantt, told the police that he was sleeping when he heard gunshots but ignored them and did not step outside.

Potohar Town Superintendent of Police (SP) Haroon Joya said there was a contradiction in the statements of Ali and his uncle as the former said he heard two gunshots while the latter said he heard four and none of them got out to check what had happened.

Joya said the possibility of target killing on sectarian grounds could not be ruled out. The police are uncertain over the exact cause of the murder but are investigating the incident from all aspects including a family feud, over financial or property issues.

The SP said the police will have more information once the postmortem report is received. Officials of intelligence agencies also believe that the former officer and his family were drugged before the shooting.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2013.