ISLAMABAD: A couple was killed in the capital on Tuesday, police said.

According to the police, the bodies were found in a wooded area in Dhoke Jabi, located in Banigala.

They said some passersby spotted the murdered couple and informed the police who reached the spot and shifted the bodies to the hospital. Both the man and woman had sustained a bullet injury to their head and seemed to have been murdered Monday night.

Recovery of the dead man’s CNIC led to the identification of the victims, the police said, adding that Banigala police then contacted their counterparts in Dir who informed them that the woman had been married in her native town, but eloped with the man some two years ago.

The bodies were identified as that of Shahabullah, 25, and Zeenat Omer, 24, natives of Dir. It was further informed that the families of both the woman and her husband had been searching for them since they ran away.

Banigala police also requested Dir police to inform the victims’ families about the murder and asked them to come over to the capital for further legal procedure, including autopsy.

It is yet to be established when the couple reached Islamabad and where they had been staying, the police said. From their condition, it seemed that they were in hiding. Two sleeping mosquito nets were found near the bodies, which suggested that there was no permanent or proper place where they stayed or slept, the police added.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2022