ISLAMABAD: A man allegedly killed two people and injured one in a rural area in the capital in the early hours of Wednesday.

Police officials told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the incident took place in Nogazi, an area in Tarnol. They said three people who had entered a house were shot by the resident. The police had not registered an FIR at the time this report was filed.

Two of the people died immediately, while the third managed to flee, leaving a trail of blood from the shooter’s house to a street some distance away.

Police said the shooting took place between 1:30am and 3am. Police were informed of the incident but did not reach the crime scene until hours later. The bodies of the deceased were taken to a hospital at around 4:50am.

Many officials Dawn contacted did not comment on the actual timing of the shooting or what had happened, including the inspector general of police and the Tarnol police station house officer. The police’s public relations officer said details about the incident should be sought from other officers.

Police officials initially claimed that the shooting was part of a botched robbery, in which the resident of the house being robbed shot and killed two alleged robbers and injured another. They later said the shooting occurred during a deal involving contraband items.

They said the bodies of the two victims were found in the veranda of the house, and one pistol was found in the same place near the head of one of the deceased and at some distance from either victims’ hands.

The autopsy revealed that both deceased were shot either from the behind or the side, and one of them was shot at close range.

One of the deceased has been identified as 31-year-old Jahezullah, but the identity of the other is not known. The second deceased is said to be in his late 20s.

Jahezullah was shot in the shoulder from the side, with an exit wound on his chest, while the other victim suffered three bullet wounds including to his back and leg.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Waqaruddin Syed said he was not sure if the incident was a robbery, but that a man had killed two people and injured another, none of whom had fired.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2020