QUETTA: Police have solved the mystery of the cold-blooded killing of five people of an Afghan refugee family in the Kuchlak area and arrested the main suspect along with four others, including a woman, who was a close relative of the victims.

Five persons of the family — a woman and her four children — were slaughtered in Killi Ahmed Shah Nasiran on Sunday last when the family head Hakeemullah was not home.

Deputy Commissioner Pishin Zafar Muhammad Shai, while speaking at a press conference along with Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Ali Durrani, disclosed that the murderer is the nephew of Hikmatullah, who slaughtered Sakina Bibi and her four children with the help of the second wife of Hakeemullah.

He said the 18-year-old suspect, Azhar Mehmood, allegedly had illicit relations with Shazia, the second wife of his uncle Hakeemullah. Sakina Bibi had on the incident day caught them red-handed on which they planned to kill her along with her children.

The suspect with the help of Shazia first attacked Sakina Bibi who resisted and during the scuffle Shazia got injuries. However, they overpowered her and slit the throat of the mother of four children. Later, they also slaughtered the four children — two boys and two girls. The suspect later informed his uncle Hakeemullah that some thieves had barged into his home. When Hakeemullah reached home, he found his wife and four children dead.

Levies and police launched an investigation into the incident and arrested Hikmatullah and another person. However, during the investigation it was found that the second wife of Hakeemullah is injured, on which she was included in the interrogation.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2022