Hotel massacre: Finding room rates too high, man kills five hotel staffers

An employee who died in hospital was able to give a statement to the police; one guest injured.

RAWALPINDI:

Five employees of a hotel were shot dead in one of the busiest localities of Rawalpindi on Monday, the police said. 

The Pirwadhai police recovered four bodies and two injured men from a room in Khan Hotel near Pirwadhai Bus Terminal after they were shot at close range. All of them were shifted to District Headquarter Hospital.

The victims were identified as Munir alias Kashi, 19, Mubashir alias Chara, 20, Bashir Alam, 23, and Hazrat Umer, 19, from Swat and Muhammad Wali, 21, from Buner.

Faisal, who was staying in the hotel as guest, and Hazrat Umer, were shifted to DHQ by the Rescue 1122. Umer died of bullet wounds in the hospital as he had been shot in the head, while Faisal remains under treatment for a gunshot wound in the leg, the rescuers and police officials said.

Before his death, Umer, a clerk at the hotel, said that an unknown man came to the hotel at around 4am and wanted to hire a room. He began an argument over room rates which heated up.

The man then pulled out a pistol and started indiscriminate firing, killing four employees of the hotel on the spot and injuring the complainant, Rawal Town Superintendent of Police (SP) Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif said. The alleged murderer fled from the scene after the killings, he added.

The official said an FIR had been registered based on Umer’s statement. The police also questioned the owner of the hotel, Muhammad Irfan, who quoted staff members telling him that the main cause of the tragedy was an altercation on rates of the room.

Investigation Officer Sub-Inspector Khalil Bhatti said when he visited the crime scene early in the morning there were signs of a scuffle. He said the hotel had been sealed and investigations were underway.

Meanwhile, a trader in the Gunjmandi area was shot dead for resisting a robbery attempt at his shop.

Bilal Malik, who used to deal in motor vehicle spare parts, was shot in the head after he resisted two robbers at his shop. He was shifted to DHQ hospital in critical situation where he died in the evening.

After the incident, a protest demonstration was taken out by traders of the Astabal Road. The protesters gathered at Fawwara Chowk in Raja Bazaar demanding the immediate arrest of the robbers.

Chaudhry Pervaiz, a representative of the traders leading the protest, demanded the immediate arrest of the killers and urged the city police officer (CPO) to take steps to ensure the safety of traders and their businesses as they were being looted in broad daylight.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2012.