GUJRAT: At least three people, including an expatriate Pakistani and his brother, were gunned down in an ambush near Katowal village of Malakwal police area of Mandi Bahauddin district on Monday.

Naveed Abbas, 29, who had returned from France recently was on his way to village Darya along with brother Ghulam Abbas, 50, and Shahzad Ghauri, 22, of Sargodha in a car.

Some armed men of their rival party ambushed their car near Katowal and opened indiscriminate fire on it. As a result of the firing, all three riding on the car were killed whereas the assailants fled the scene.

Police shifted the bodies to the Malakwal Tehsil Headquarters Hospital for autopsy whereas the crime scene unit collected the forensic evidence from the scene.

Mandi Bahauddin District Police Officer Anwar Saeed Kingra also visited the spot. He said the police had cordoned off the entire district to arrest the suspects.

Police said the initial investigation suggested that the incident had taken place due to some old enmity; however, the case was yet to be lodged and suspects identified.

Punjab Inspector General of Police Rao Sardar took notice of the incident and directed the DPO to arrest the suspects.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2022