Newlyweds slaughtered in capital

Police spox says couple fled Hangu to escape threats to their lives

ISLAMABAD:

A newlywed couple who fled from Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to Islamabad to escape threats to their lives have been slaughtered in the federal capital.

According to police sources, 24-year-old Marjana Bibi and 19-year-old Shoaib, residents of Hangu, had chosen to marry against their family's wishes. Fearing for their lives, they fled Hangu and rented a house in Mouza Pind Padian, within the Tarnool police station's jurisdiction in Islamabad.

The couple had arrived in Islamabad just a day before their tragic end. Marjana Bibi's brother-in-law, along with an accomplice, tracked them down to Pind Padian. The police reported that the brother-in-law and his accomplice slaughtered the couple in the name of honour.

The police performed a postmortem on the bodies and seized the couple's mobile phones for examination. The phones helped trace the relatives of the deceased. Despite waiting for six hours, none of the relatives came forward to claim the bodies.

A police spokesperson confirmed that the murders were honour killings. He stated that if no relatives claimed the bodies, the police would arrange for their burial.

He further said the woman was married to another man but chose to elope with her alleged lover. The police have filed a case and are continuing efforts to apprehend the perpetrators, he said.

In a separate incident, the owner of a private housing society, identified as Sarfraz Syal, along with an accomplice, killed one person and injured another in the G-8 sector within the limits of the Karachi Company police station.

Ismail Khan, who was injured in the incident, reported to the police that he and his cousin, Abdul Waheed Khan, had gone to the housing society to collect money from Sarfraz Syal. Upon their demand, Sarfraz Syal called ten armed security guards and ordered them to kill Ismail and Abdul Waheed.

The security guards took them out of the office and tortured them on a nearby ground. On Syal's orders, security guard Umar killed Abdul Waheed Khan, while the others severely injured Ismail Khan.

The police have arrested the security guard involved in the killing. Sources revealed that Sarfraz Syal, the absconding main accused, had employed a retired senior officer of Islamabad police and another from Rawalpindi police. These former officers allegedly use their connections to gain concessions for Syal in criminal cases.

In response to the incident, the federal capital police have formed a special team to arrest Sarfraz Syal. The investigation is ongoing, and efforts are being made to bring all responsible parties to justice.

Three killed in separate incidents

Three people have been killed in separate incidents in the federal capital on Wednesday.

In the first incident, Abdul Waheed Khan Karwan, a contractor responsible for the private housing society, The Life Residency, in Sector G8 Centre was fatally shot while visiting his office within the limits of Karachi police station.

Police said Karwan, a resident of the Bhadana Kalan area, had a dispute with the society's owner, Sarfraz Siyal, over a transaction. On Tuesday night, Karwan visited the society's office to settle the money dispute but was shot dead. According to preliminary information, Sarfraz Siyal escaped while Karwan was shot dead by the security guard of the Karwan Konji Society.

In another incident, shopkeeper Jamshed Iqbal was shot and killed during a robbery in Shams Colony. According to his nephew, Muhammad Fayaz, Iqbal had set up a grocery store on Street No. 20.

On the day of the incident, Fayaz was working at the shop when three armed men on two motorcycles attacked them at 7am. The armed men entered the shop, and one grabbed Iqbal's neck at gunpoint. They took a wallet containing Rs25,000, an identity card, a driving license, and a motorcycle registration card from the cash counter. Iqbal resisted, and during the struggle, both he and one of the armed men exited the shop. The second assailant then fired at Iqbal, who was later rushed to the hospital by his uncle, Nisar Ahmed. Unfortunately, Iqbal succumbed to his injuries.

In the third incident, Wajid Murtaza, a resident of Mandla village, shot dead his wife, the mother of three children. Murtaza had abducted her 13 years ago and married her.

Bara Kahu police have registered a case on the complaint of the victim's father, Abdul Ghaffar, a watchman at Dhok Mohri. Khawar Murtaza, the brother of the killer, has also been named as an accused. The police handed over the body to the heirs after medico-legal formalities.