RAWALPINDI: Nine people, including five women and four children, lost their lives to an old enmity on Friday night when some men carrying automatic weapons attacked their home and sprayed them with bullets in a village on the outskirts of Rawalpindi.

Another three children of the same family were injured in the attack.

Shortly after the incident, Elite Force commandos and police contingents reac­hed the crime scene and launched a hunt for the attackers, while the injured were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital, Rawalpindi, amid tight security.

Regional Police Officer Sohail Habib Tajik told Dawn that the suspected attacker, Rab Nawaz, along with his sons Danish and Ikram, who had been on interim bail, went to the Miyal village of the Chauntra area, apparently to take revenge for his wife’s murder.

Police find old enmity as motive for assault

A few days ago, the RPO said, one Azhar Mehmood, along with his accomplices, had murdered Rab Nawaz’s wife. In the Friday attack, five women, three girls and one boy, all belonging to Azhar’s family, were shot dead, while three children were injured.

The deceased were identified as Saleem Arshad Bibi, Nisaar Bibi, Azhar’s wife Sidra Bibi, his daughters Emaan Fatima (child), Ghazala and Mubina Khatoon and son Waqas (child), Azra Bibi and Abida Shaheen.

The motive for the killing was enmity between the rival groups. On July 20, a daughter of Rab Nawaz lodged an FIR of her mother’s murder. According to her, she was at home with her mother Zahida Bibi and brother Ahsan when Azhar carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Irfan, Qam­ar and seven other armed men ente­red their house. Azhar fired at her mother and the attackers didn’t allow them to take her to hospital. They left only when they were sure that she had died, she said, adding that her mother was later pronounced dead on arrival at the DHQ Hospital.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and sought a report from City Police Officer Rawalp­indi Mohammad Ahsan Younis.

The CM directed the CPO to arrest the suspects as soon as possible so that they could be brought to justice.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2020