ISLAMABAD: Four members of a family, including a minor, were murdered and two injured during an attack on their house in Banigala on Wednesday night by a policeman who then committed suicide, the police said.

Constable Mohammad Mehmood was deployed in the Special Protection Group with a minister and was once a tenant of Irum Iqbal, a lawyer whose house he attacked.

Late into the night, the 35-year-old constable went into the house of his former landlady and opened fire with his official submachine gun (SMG), police sources said. He later shot himself with the same SMG outside the house.

Hearing the gunshots, the neighbours had come to the house to find a dead policeman in a black Anti-Terrorism Squad’s uniform, with a SMG near him. They also heard screaming and shouting from inside.

The police and paramedics were also called to the scene.

“We found two minors injured in the living room,” a police official said, adding that Irum, her 11-year-old daughter Shiza and four-year-old son Hassan were injured and taken to the hospital. Irum and Hassan later died at the hospital.

The police also found the bodies of 35-year-old Mohammad Arshad who was an acquaintance of the family’s and of the 65-year-old domestic employee, Hajra. Irum’s mother, Gul Nasa was also injured. Two other minors remained unhurt as they hid under the sofas when the constable opened fire.

Preliminary investigations and a statement from Shiza revealed that the constable was a tenant at the house and had left three months ago though it is yet to be established if he left on his own or was asked to leave.

However, he was a frequent visitor at the house and had come to visit Irum at iftar on Wednesday well, the police said, adding that he remained in the house for an hour and a half.

“According to Shiza, her grandmother Gul Nasa scolded Mehmood,” the police said. The constable had later come to the house in his uniform and with his official SMG and had opened fire on its residents.

“He walked to towards the grandmother’s room where Irum, the housemaid and Arshad were,” the police quoted Shiza as saying.

The four children, who were all sitting in the living room, heard gunfire and then saw Mehmood come out of the room. The constable then started firing at the children during which nine-year-old Mohammad Ali and a six-year-old girl remained unhurt as they hid under the sofa.

The police said motive behind the murders is yet to be established. They have so far only been able to talk to Shiza as her grandmother’s condition is not yet stable enough for her to record a statement.

Mohammad Arshad was said to be an acquaintance of the family and was a contractor at the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited.

“He was called by the family to repair some fault in the gas line,” the police said.

“There are reports that Irum owed the constable money and that there was an argument between him and Gul Nasa over the issue when he came over for iftar,” the police said.

Irum’s husband is said to be living in Dubai.

There are also reports that Mehmood was annoyed by the presence of Mohammad Arshad in the house.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2016