CHITRAL: The police have arrested three persons in a double murder case that took place in Nichhagh village of Oveer valley.

Bullet-riddled bodies of a 19-year-old girl and a 23-year-old man were recovered from a local forest on May 18.

A senior police officer dealing with the case told Dawn that parents of both the slain persons had stated that the two had committed suicide.

However, he said the post-mortem of the bodies corroborated that the two had been murdered, adding the case had become a challenge for the police as human rights organisations were also exerting pressure to trace the killers.

He said the investigators gathered the data of text messages and voice calls of both the persons, which after forensic test, established that the two were in love with each other.

“On the night of the occurrence, the two had chatted through text messages, and a conclusion was derived from these messages that they were in no mood to commit suicide, and were rather murdered,’’ he said.

The police officer said the rifle used in the killing belonged to a third party, adding during the course of investigation it transpired that the rifle was picked by a brother of the girl a day before.

He said Ubaidur Rahman, the woman’s elder brother, confessed to the crime and said he had murdered the two all alone, but changed his statement before the court.

The official said involvement of his younger brother, Ziaur Rahman, and cousin Iqraruddin had also been established.

He said the court had sent the three to the district jail on judicial remand a day before Eidul Azha.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2020