The president of the Ahmadiyya community in Bahawalpur’s Hasilpur district was shot dead by unknown assailants on Monday morning, police said.

Tahir Iqbal, 54, was out for his morning walk in the Chak-84 village when two motorcyclists opened fire at him, resulting in his death on the spot.

According to the police, the body was moved to a morgue for autopsy and a case was lodged against two unidentified suspects. An application submitted for the registration of the first information report, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said the assailants fled from the crime scene.

Speaking to Dawn.com, Bahawalpur District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Abbas Shah claimed the initial investigation suggested that the motive behind the murder was not religious but related to ‘honour’.

Iqbal, a landlord, was in a relationship with a woman in the village and her relatives had warned him several times to end the ties, the official said.

DPO Shah speculated that the woman’s relatives might have killed Iqbal “in the name of honour”, adding that the police were also looking into the possibility of a “religious angle”.

The DPO further stated that the police were conducting raids to arrest the suspects and an investigation was underway.

Meanwhile, the Ahmadiyya community condemned the killing and said it was the result of the ongoing wave of hatred and violence against them in the country.

A spokesperson for the community said they had received death threats from extremist groups and demanded that the authorities take action to protect them and bring the culprits to justice.