KARACHI, Jan 23: A newly-wed couple was gunned down by the woman’s brothers in the Clifton area on Sunday for contracting a marriage in court against her family’s wishes, police said.

The police added that the suspects fled following the killing carried out at a family reunion inside their home in Neelum Colony, a slum area across the shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi.

“Bushra, the 26-year-old daughter of Rahim Daad, had eloped with 30-year-old Rafaqat only five days back and contracted a court marriage,” said Clifton SP Tariq Dharejo, adding that both were residents of Neelum Colony.

A duty officer of the Boat Basin police station quoted the woman’s family as saying that her father died of a heart attack when he learnt about her elopement. He said the family also alleged that Bushra took away gold jewellery.

The police official quoted Bushra’s mother as saying that she went to the couple’s house on Sunday at around 4.15pm and told them that she had forgiven her daughter for marrying a man against the family’s wishes.

He said it was during her meeting with the couple that Bushra’s brothers, Sohrab Khan and Sohail Khan, barged in and opened fire on the couple, leaving both dead and their mother shocked.

Hearing the gunfire, people from neighbouring houses arrived at the crime-scene and saw the grieving mother and the bodies lying in a pool of blood, he said, adding that they subsequently informed the police.

The official said that the police reached the crime-scene and shifted the bodies to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination. They also collected spent bullet casings of a 9mm pistol from the crime-scene.

Driver killed A lorry driver was shot dead in Korangi early morning, police said.Mohammad Ramzan, 27, son of Abdul Razzaq, was killed by armed men riding a motorbike near Vita Chowrangi, said an official of the Korangi Industrial Area police station.

He said the police shifted the body to the JPMC where the victim was pronounced dead on arrival.

The official said that the victim was a resident of Zaman Town.

Robbed Two armed men deprived a news agency reporter of his cellphone and a laptop in the “red security zone” near the Sindh Assembly building on Saturday night.

Naeem Sahoutara, a reporter of the Pakistan Press International, was heading home from work when he was accosted by two armed men riding two motorcycles in front of the YMCA marriage lawns. They snatched his mobile phone and a laptop worth Rs37,000 from him before fleeing.

A complaint was lodged at the Artillery Maidan police station.