MARDAN: Gunmen killed three members of a family at their home in Kurkuray Wala area here on Thursday.

The deceased were Ghulam Darvesh, 70, his sister, Noor Jehan Bibi, 65, and her daughter, Hajira, 3, all residents of Swat district.

The firing also left Ghulam Darvesh’s son, Noor Islam, 30, critically injured.

According to the local police, the initial probe revealed that the attackers were Janat Gul and Salih Mohammad, relatives of the deceased from Bajaur Agency.

They resorted to firing after having a heated exchange with the deceased over a family dispute.

After the killing, the gunmen fled.

The police said Noor Jehan Bibi had engaged her daughter to Janat Gul but later the two families developed differences prompting her to turn down the marriage proposal to the anger of Janat Gul’s family.

After the killing, the Rescue 1122 personnel showed up and shifted the bodies and the injured man to the Mardan Medical Complex.

Doctors referred the injured man to a major hospital in Peshawar due to critical condition.

The police registered an FIR against the suspected killers and began investigation.

They, however, made no arrests by Thursday night.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2015