Wife, niece of UC chairman killed in Gujjar Khan

Injured local govt official says attack carried out over marriage dispute

RAWALPINDI: Two family members of a local union council chairman from the ruling PML-N were killed when armed men barged into their house in Gujjar Khan and resorted to indiscriminate firing.

The political leader was also shot in the armed attack but survived. Officials suspect that the attack came over a marriage dispute. The family of Rama Union Council chairman and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mirza Inayatullah were sleeping in the courtyard of their house in Raeyan village.

Two unidentified armed men jumped over the wall at around 1am on Tuesday morning while brandishing 30 bore pistols. As the two men jumped down, the sound woke Inayatullah’s niece Hira. Noticing that intruders had entered their home, she raised hue and cry. On this, the attackers shot at the girl and at other family members sleeping in the courtyard.

Hira and Inayatullah’s wife, Gulshan, were killed on the spot, while Inayatullah himself was injured. When two relatives of the local leader rushed to rescue the family, the attackers fled while firing into the air.

Soon, a large contingent of police, including Saddar SP Iftikharul Haq, Gujar Khan Circle ASP Toheedur Rehman and Jatli police station SHO Zameer Haider arrived at the scene and collected evidence. Rescue services shifted the bodies and the injured man to the hospital.

Later, in his written complaint, Inayatullah accused Naseer and Harmain of attacking him and killing his wife and niece. He told the police that Harmain had proposed to his niece. However, she had rejected the proposal which had reportedly infuriated Harmain and he attacked his family.

The police subsequently registered a case against the two men and started an investigation. Later on Tuesday, the police said they had apprehended Harmain and detained him. It was not immediately clear whether Naseer had also been apprehended or was still at large. When contacted, Saddar SP Haq confirmed that two men had murdered the Inayatullah’s family members while injuring the UC chairman.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2017.