PESHAWAR, June 18: Prominent Pashto singer Ghazala Javed and her father were gunned down by unidentified persons at Dabgari area here on Monday night.

Family members of the deceased told police that Ms Javed had gone to a beauty parlour along with her father Mohammad Javed. Unidentified motorcyclists sprayed them with bullets when they came out of the parlour, they said.

The bodies were shifted to mortuary for autopsy from where they were taken to a police station by police and Farhat Bibi, a sister of Ms Javed.

An official of Shah Qabool police station told Dawn that they were collecting details of the occurrence and could not say anything with accuracy as to who was behind the crime. He said that Farhat Bibi might be complainant in the case and it was not known as to who she would charge.

Hailing from the scenic Swat valley, Ms Javed married around two years ago Jehangir Khan, a native of Peshawar. However, last year, differences emerged between the couple following which she left residence of her husband and started living with her father.

The singer had also filed a suit for dissolution of her marriage in Swat.

She got fame few years ago and her audio and video CDs and cassettes were selling like hot cake not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also in Middle East where Pashtuns work in large number.

Following her marriage, Ms Javed had stopped singing, but recently she resumed attending private functions.