A murder case defendant and his mother were gunned down in broad daylight near Matkay Bridge in Daska, in what police have confirmed was a targeted attack stemming from longstanding enmity.
The victims, identified as Saad Arif and his mother Rukhshana Arif, originally hailed from Wasnke, Tehsil Daska, but had been residing in Qila Ahmadabad, Narowal. They had traveled to Daska along with Saad's brothers, Muhammad Usama and Ahmad Arif, for a court hearing.
After attending the hearing, the family was returning home on motorcycles when, around 3:00pm, they were ambushed near Matkay Bridge in the Saddar Daska police precinct.
Three armed suspects riding a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire, killing Saad and Rukhshana on the spot. Although the attackers fired at other individuals in the vicinity, no additional casualties were reported.
The assailants fled while firing shots into the air.
Police teams led by SP Investigation Usman Saifi, DSP Daska Khalid Aslam Jathol, Incharge CCD Sialkot Abid Rashid, and SHO Saddar Daska Jahanzeb Khan reached the crime scene, secured the area, and launched a manhunt for the suspects.
Rescue 1122 and the Crime Scene Unit collected forensic evidence and transported the bodies to Civil Hospital Daska's mortuary.
An FIR under sections 302, 109, and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered at Saddar Daska Police Station on the complaint of Muhammad Usama, brother of the deceased.
The suspects named in the case include Adeel, Abdul Rehman and Waqas. Police revealed that the shooting is linked to the murder of Zain Ali, which occurred earlier this year on March 18.
In that case, registered at the same police station, Saad Arif was named as a suspect in Zain Ali's murder - a killing that had already intensified tensions between the two families.
DSP Khalid Aslam Jathol assured that law enforcement is actively pursuing the suspects and vowed they would be arrested soon and brought to justice.
Saad Arif and others had appeared in court to record their testimony, a fact well known to the suspects involved in the case.
SHO Jahanzeb Khan said when police teams conducted raids at the suspects' residences, they found the houses locked. This led investigators to believe that the suspects had carefully planned and executed the double murder.
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