Brother, wife held for killing man, faking heart attack

Forensic evidence, mobile data expose illicit affair, murder planning

MAILSI:

Police have arrested the elder brother and wife of a man who was allegedly killed in his sleep, with the suspects attempting to disguise the murder as a natural death caused by a heart attack.

Police said the case unfolded on October 30 in Khanpur, within the jurisdiction of City Mailsi Police Station, when 45-year-old Muhammad Khalid was reported dead.

His wife, Ruqayya Bibi, and brother, Abid, initially told relatives and police that Khalid had suffered a fatal heart attack.

However, inconsistencies in their statements and suspicious evidence at the scene prompted District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Afzal to order a detailed investigation, led by DSP Saeed Ahmad Sial and SHO Mujahid Khan Baloch.

During the probe, police discovered that Ruqayya and Abid were involved in an illicit relationship which had been discovered by Khalid shortly before his death.

To conceal their affair, the pair allegedly conspired to eliminate him.

Investigators found that the suspects mixed sleeping pills into Khalid's food, rendering him unconscious before suffocating him with a pillow while he slept.

They later tried to mislead relatives by creating a commotion and claiming he had died of natural causes.

Relying on forensic evidence, mobile phone data, and the post-mortem report, police confirmed it was a premeditated murder.

Both suspects were taken into custody along with the murder weapon and during interrogation, confessed to the crime.

DPO Muhammad Afzal said a case has been registered against the suspects under Section 302 and other relevant provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code. Further legal proceedings are underway.