May 28, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1428

ISLAMABAD, May 27: Two persons who were found dead in an abandoned house at Kuchna village last Friday were believed to have been murdered by their rivals, police said.

Shahzad Town police found two bodies lying in a pool of blood in a house located in a forest at Kuchna village on May 25.

The police shifted the bodies to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for legal process. They were later identified as those of two friends, Naeem Akhtar, a resident of Tamil village, and Ijaz Ahmad, a resident of Tehont village. Both were in their 30s.

Naeem Akhtar’s body was identified by his brother Zafar Mehmood and father while Ijaz Ahmad’s body was identified by Hajra Bibi.

The police said Ijaz Ahmad was wanted by Shahzad Town and Civil Lines police in three murder cases. He was also involved in 14 different cases, including four robberies in Kotli Sattian.

Ijaz Ahmad, a proclaimed offender, was arrested by the law enforcement agencies three times, however, each time he managed to escape from their custody. The last time he escaped was from the premises of District and Session Court, Islamabad, two months ago.

Naeem Akhtar was a murder accused along with his brother, Waheed Akhtar. However he was acquitted by the court of law while his brother was awarded life sentence.

Police said both of them were hiding in the house of a person named Tariq which was located in the forest at Kuchna village. However, their rivals came to know about their hideout and killed them.

It appears from the crime scene that their rivals had opened indiscriminate fire on them while they were sleeping.

The deceased received scores of bullets while a number of bullets also hit the walls of the room where they were sleeping.

The police have registered a murder case on the complaint of Naeem Akhtar’s brother, Zafar Mehmood, who alleged that his brother was murdered by his rival Khizar, while Ijaz Ahmad was killed by Nazar.