Follow-up : A bet lost is lives lost

The IO says Hanif was a habitual gambler and often travelled to Lahore and Faisalabad to bet large amounts.

MULTAN: Investigations into the Burelawa tragedy where a man killed his wife and four children before killing himself has revealed that the man, a habitual gambler, had lost his wife and children in a bet. The killings were reported from Warraich Town on Saturday. Investigation Officer Mehar Pervaiz Ahmed said the man, Muhammad Hanif, first butchered his children and wife and then shot himself.  On Saturday, the IO said, Hanif had asked his brother for a butcher’s cleaver saying he wanted to sacrifice an animal. He said the police found a note on Hanif’s body, requesting police not to send the bodies for a post-mortem examination. The IO said Hanif, a jeweller, was a habitual gambler and often travelled to Lahore and Faisalabad to bet large amounts. He said he had lost a Rs20 million bet. When he told the winner he could not pay the money, he was told to handover his wife and children. He had been given a week’s time that ended on Saturday, the IO added. The IO said the police were trying to locate his gambler’s networks in Lahore and Faisalabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2013.