Man kills parents, sibling, nephew, in-laws

Police say suspect acted under influence of drugs

LAHORE:

In a highly tragic incident, a man allegedly shot dead his parents, a sibling, a nephew and in-laws in PCSIR Colony and Sheraz Town respectively on Friday morning.

The suspect, Abid, entered his house in PCSIR Colony, Main Bagrian, carrying a prohibited 223-bore automatic rifle.

His family had been asleep.

The suspect resorted to indiscriminate firing, killing his father Ghulam Hussain, his mother, Nasreen Bibi, sister Raheela Bibi and nephew Hamayun Khuram. He did not stop at that. He got into his car and drove straight to Sheraz Town, a few kilometers off his house, where his in-laws lived.

There he re-loaded his gun and opened fire on his in-laws, killing Shagufta Bibi and his father-in-law Aslam while his mother-in-law, Rani Bibi, sustained serious injuries and was undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Right after the incident, nearby people alerted the police. The Dolphin Squad arrested the suspect and recovered the automatic rifle from his possession.

Upon receiving information about the incident, SSP Investigation Imran Kishore, SSP Operations Mustansir Feroze, SP Saddar Operations and Investigation along with senior police officers, forensic teams and a heavy contingent of police rushed to the spot.

They cordoned off the crime scene, collected forensic evidences and recorded statements of the eye-witnesses.

Police said that initial investigations suggested that the suspect was a drug addict -- using ICE -- and had acted under the influence of drugs.

While being in custody, he told the police that he had been annoyed over his relations torturing his son.

Few reports also suggested that the suspect had had an exchange of harsh words with his father last night.

Ghulam Hussain had told him to have himself re-admitted to a hospital due to his mischievous acts and immature behaviour.

The suspect had earlier undergone treatment at a hospital. He reportedly detested spending time at the hospital.

Two FIRs of the incident were registered at the Green Town Police Station.

In the first FIR No. 1282/22, the complainant Sonia Sudher, daughter of Ghulam Hussain, said that on the morning of the incident at around 08.30am, she was present in her father’s house when her brother carrying an automatic rifle barged into the house and opened fire, leaving his father, mother, sister and a nephew dead.

He stopped firing when the bullets in the magazine ended. She tried to stop him but he fled in a car, she added.

The other FIR was registered on the complaint of Muhammad Asif, the brother of Shugufta Bibi. She is a sister of the mother-in-law of the suspect.

Asif said that he on account of some domestic work was visiting his sister’s house in Mohalla Joiyan when the suspect Abid carrying a 223 automatic rifle entered the house and opened fire on the family members.

When the rifle ran out of bullets, he tried to capture him, but he managed to flee. Police said that further investigations into the matter were underway.

In January this year, a lady doctor, her son and two daughters were shot dead at night in their house in Kahna.

The victim Naheed Mubarak, 45, had set up a clinic at her house at LDA Avenue. She, her son Taimoor, 21, and daughters Mahnoor, 16, and Jannat Fatima, eight, were found dead at their home in the morning. The victims had bullet injuries from a 30-bore handgun.

All the victims were found dead in a bedroom of the house. As the information of the murder was received, heavy contingent of police rushed to the spot.

Police teams and forensic experts collected evidence from the crime scene.

The investigations SSP said a police team headed by the Model Town investigations SP had been formed to inquire into the matter. He said police were using technological means to identify the killers.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2022.