Man kills five including ex

Suspect lived abroad for a long time, while his wife was in Latifabad

OKARA:

A man killed five people, including his divorced wife, former brother-in-law and mother-in-law by opening fire at two places within a few minutes.

Two other women were injured in the firing the suspect after a court order in favour of his former wife. The suspected murderer fled after the attacks.

The police cordoned off the area to arrest the suspect and shifted the injured and the dead to hospital.

The Punjab chief minister and inspector general of police sought a report about the incident from District Police Officer (DPO) Hasan Iqbal and ordered arrest of the suspect.

According to A-Division SHO Mian Anwar, the suspect, Rafiq had been living abroad for a long time, while his wife Farzana lived in Latifabad along with her brother Kashif. Rafiq had divorced his wife and both of them had filed cases against each other.

Farzana's uncle Ashiq and his son Salman had also filed a case against the suspect.

While returning after a court appearance, Rafiq opened fire near a grain warehouse and killed Ashiq and his son Salman. Two women were also injured due to the firing.

The suspect then went to Latifabad, where he shot and killed his divorced wife Farzana and brother-in-law Kashif, the police official said.

His former mother-in-law, Zubeda, was injured in the attack and she died of the wounds.

The police shifted the bodies to hospital for postmortem. Police teams were sent to arrest the suspect after cordoning off the area.

Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz and IGP Rao Sardar took notice of the incident and sought a report from the DPO.

A resident of the locality said the suspect had divorced his wife because he believed that she had given to her relatives the money that he had been sending her over a long period.

He had also filed a case to get back his money.

Farzana's uncle was also pursuing a property ownership case against the suspect, leading to the grudge.

DSP Muhammad Saleem Ruth sad while talking to The Express Tribune that the family court had issued its verdict in favour of Farzana.

Rafiq shot and killed his ex-wife, brother-in-law, mother-in-law and their two relatives after chasing them following the court order, the official said, citing initial investigation.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2022.