RAWALPINDI, Dec 27 A retired army officer committed suicide by shooting himself at his house located in Chaklala, police said on Sunday.

Gul Muhammad Khan, former colonel living at Askari 12, was found dead and a pistol was lying on his body when his son Rahim Gul returned to his house at night.

According to the police, the deceased had been in distress for some time because of some disease which drove him to suicide.

Meanwhile, a man attempted suicide apparently because of financial difficulties on Sunday by setting himself on fire in his house located at Dhoke Matkial (Gunjmandi area).

With 95 per cent burns, Muhammad Rashid, unmarried at 42, was first shifted to the District Headquarters hospital and later to the Holy Family Hospital where the doctors described his condition as critical.