LOWER DIR: Unidentified assailants shot dead a man and his son and later killed a married woman in a separate attack here on Wednesday night, police and local residents said.

According to police, armed men barged into a house near Asbanr Bazaar and opened fire, killing Qimat Gul and his son Bilal on the spot. The attackers then fled the scene and reportedly entered another house in the nearby village of Ovi Shah, where they shot dead a married woman, identified as Laila Bibi, inside her house.

The assailants escaped after carrying out the attacks. A relative of the deceased woman, identified as Naseeb Zaman, told Asbanr police that the family had no enmity with anyone. Police registered a case against unidentified suspects under Sections 302 (murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 457 (house trespass) of the Pakistan Penal Code and launched an investigation.

Local residents said that Qimat Gul had recently returned from Dubai on leave, while Bilal was his only son. Some residents suspected that the killings might have been ‘honour’ related, though police officials said it was premature to draw conclusions and that the actual motive would be determined after completion of the investigation.

Police shifted the bodies to the Chakdara Hospital for postmortem examination before handing them over to the heirs for burial.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2026