LAHORE, June 2: Police found two bodies – one of a minor girl and the other of a young man – who were murdered in separate incidents in the provincial capital on Thursday.

The body of nine-year-old girl, identified as Esha, was found in an abandoned cold storage near Barkat Stop in Shadbagh.

Shadbagh police said the victim was daughter of Akhtar Ashiq of Shah Din Park.

Quoting Akhtar, City SP (Operations) Dr Shahzad Asif said Esha left home around 4pm on Wednesday for buying toffees from a nearby shop but did not return. An extensive search for the missing girl proved futile.

Shopkeeper Sikandar told Akhtar that Esha bought toffees and left the shop.

On Thursday morning, some passersby spotted the girl’s body lying in the veranda of the abandoned cold storage and alerted the police.

The SP said going by circumstantial evidence and forensic examination of the body, the police believed the girl was strangled after being sexually assaulted. He, however, said a post-mortem examination would be carried out to determine the exact cause of her death.

He said a case had been registered against unidentified culprit(s).

In the other incident, Burki police recovered the body of a man in his 30s from Burki Canal and shifted it to hospital for autopsy.

The police said the victim, not yet identified, had marks of bruises on the skull. It appeared that unidentified killers used a sharp-edged weapon to slay the young man, the police added.

POISONED: A 28-year-old man was found dead at Lorry Adda on Thursday.

Lorry Adda police said the victim, identified as Javed of Okara, was spotted by some passersby.

The police are awaiting autopsy report.

DIES: A 13-year-old boy succumbed to his wounds at Lahore General Hospital on Thursday, a day after he was allegedly hit by a stray bullet in his head at Shahdara village.

Shahdara Town SHO Mehdi Kazmi said, quoting the family of victim Umair, that he was asleep at the rooftop of his house when a stray bullet hit him in small hours of Wednesday.

He was shifted to a private hospital from where he was referred to LGH where he died.

He said initial police inquiries did not find evidence of any aerial firing in the village. He said investigation was under way.

ACCIDENT: A 30-year-old man was killed after a trailer hit the motorcycle he was riding near Sundar Industrial Estate on Thursday.

Manga Mandi police said Afzal of Sahiwal died on the spot. Some passersby managed to capture the suspect, identified as Abdul Sattar, and handed him over to the police.