GUJRANWALA: A mysterious gang has surfaced in an area of Gujranwala, gruesomely murdering people with strikes of bricks and spreading panic in the city.

Within a fortnight, the gang has killed five people while they were asleep on rooftops of their houses in the jurisdictions of the People’s Colony Police Station.

The unidentified gang members climb up the walls of houses and kill the sleeping men and women by smashing their heads with bricks.

According to reports, the first such incident was reported on July 18. Muhammad Boota (38) was murdered in Zahid Colony and his dead body was found on the roof of his house.

Heads of five people smashed with bricks in separate incidents

In the same area, the gang killed Tanzeela Bibi (45) and injured her sister Raheela Bibi (52) with strikes of bricks on their heads on July 24.

In another similar incident on July 26, one Asif Jameel, a resident of Allah Bakhsh, was asleep on the rooftop of his house. His family found his dead body the next morning and he was killed by a hit on his head.

On Aug 4, a citizen Usama, a resident of Kashmir Road, submitted an application to the People’s Colony police, stating he along with his father, Shafiq, and mother Nusrat was asleep on their roof.

He suddenly woke up by hearing a noise at midnight and he saw some men hitting his parents with bricks. The attackers fled when he tried to stop them and made a noise.

Usama took his parents to a hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

The complainant claimed that he could not identify the killers.

The People’s Colony Police Station has registered all the five cases. However, police are still clueless about the gang and its motives.

The citizens are frightened after the continuous attacks of the invisible gang. They have demanded the police high-ups to take notice of the situation, get the gang members arrested and resolve the mystery.

City Police Officer Rai Babar Saeed has directed People’s Colony Station House Officer Adnan Ajaz to bust the gang as soon as possible or face action.

ARRESTED: City police on Thursday claimed to have arrested 10 suspects wanted in three different murder cases.

The station house officers of Saddar and Ferozwala police stations told the media in a press conference that a vegetable trader, Manzoor Husain, belonging to Balochistan was killed by Rehman and others in vegetable market over a dispute.

Saddar police arrested Rehman, Naeem and Ilyas within 48 hours after the murder.

In another incident, a man, Khadim Hussain, shot dead his friend, Ameer Shehzad, over suspicion that he was in a relationship with his sister. After the murder, the suspect buried in body in the compound of his house and told the police that Ameer was kidnapped.

Police resolved the murder case within four hours and arrested Khadim Hussain, Rehan, Rafaqat and Sidra Bibi.

In the third incident, a woman was arrested for killing her husband with the help of her male friends.

Umaira Bibi, a resident of Jhangi, called home her husband, Rab Nawaz, a security guard in a factory. She killed him with the help of her accomplices, Faisal and Abdul Rehman.

She told the police Nawaz was shot dead over resistance during a robbery. Police arrested all the three suspects and sent them behind the bars.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2020