Couple, their two-month-old daughter murdered over ‘property dispute’

Police searching for brother of advocate Amanat with whom he purportedly had developed differences in Lahore

LAHORE:

A two-month-old girl was strangled to death and her father and mother were slaughtered in washroom of their residence with their hands cuffed behind their backs in Lahore by unidentified suspects, allegedly over a property dispute, police said.

According to officials, 33-year-old advocate Amanat Ali and his family were murdered in their own home in a private housing society within the limits of Chung police station on Sunday.

However, the elderly mother of Amanat, who was also present in the house at the time of the incident, was not hurt by the unidentified assailants.

Read more: Lahore shocked by quadruple murder

Police officials are also taking into account the alleged involvement of Amanat’s brother Ameen in the gruesome triple murder case over a property dispute. The suspect did not show up at the crime scene despite the police's direction.

The suspect had recently come out after spending a few years behind bars. The father of the deceased, Amanat had also been murdered a few years back, also allegedly over a property issue.

According to the initial investigation, the suspects barged into the house located at the Agris Town on Raiwind Road. They took the victims hostage on the ground floor of the double-story house.

Police officials said that the suspects handcuffed Amanat after overpowering him at gunpoint and took him to a washroom and slaughtered him with a sharp-edged weapon.

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On information of the incident, a heavy contingent of police rushed to the spot. They cordoned off the crime scene and collected forensic evidence.

Lahore SSP Investigations Imran Kishwar also visited the crime scene to review the forensic evidence collection procedure. “Police have launched the investigation keeping in view different angles including a property dispute,” he told the media.

He said that police had asked the brother of the victim to show up at the crime scene but he did not come. He also shared that the brother had been released from jail recently.

Kishwar also added that police had taken other suspects into custody and had been looking for a suspicious car they had spotted in the surroundings.

“The investigation teams had been collecting evidence including call data records (CDRs), CCTV footage, eye-witness accounts and family history,” SSP Kishwar said.

An investigator, seeking anonymity, shared with The Express Tribune that the police became alert when Amanat’s brother did not show up. They had even searched but could not locate him.

He said that reportedly Ameen had a property dispute with his brother. He recently had served a jail term and reportedly lost much of his wealth during this time, he added.

Amanat also had a dispute with his cousin over a property and police were investigating the case with this angle as well, he said.

"This man [cousin of Amanat] among other suspects was being grilled by police while the teams were trying to locate Ameen and his family," he further added.