KARACHI, Sept 6: A legal adviser to the Karachi Electric Supply Company and a young couple were found dead in an apartment in the Defence Housing Authority on Tuesday.

Police said the victims were tortured before being strangled.

The three bodies were retrieved in the evening by area police, who were informed about it by some tenants of the residential building after witnessing the victims lying dead in one of the apartments.

“It's a residential building situated in Street 14 of Defence, Phase II Extension,” said Inspector Raja Mushtaq, the SHO of the Defence police station.

“The victims have been identified as Wajid Mughal, in his late 30s, his wife Qurat-ul-Ain, in her late 20s or early 30s, and Fahim-al-Karim Marwat, the KESC legal adviser. The bodies have been shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.”

The incident caused panic and fear in the residential area, where hundreds of people gathered in and outside the building.

The police recorded statements of neighbours to connect the dots that led to the initial findings. The investigators were not sure about the motive and people behind the incident.

“The victim couple (Wajid Mughal and Qurat-ul-Ain) lived in the apartment where the three bodies were found,” said SSP (South) Naeem Sheikh.

“It's not yet clear whether they owned the flat or lived there on rent. Advocate Fahim-al-Karim might have come to visit them. We have learned that he lived somewhere else in the DHA.”

“Initial investigations suggest that they were strangled one by one and the job was done in the middle of the night between Monday and Tuesday,” said the SSP (South).