Prime suspect in Gujranwala bride's murder killed in alleged exchange of fire, claims CCD

LAHORE: The Crime Control Department (CCD) claimed on Saturday that the prime suspect in the murder of a bride on her wedding day in Gujranwala district was killed during an alleged exchange of fire. According to a CCD spokesperson, the prime suspect, Sarfraz, had allegedly been hiding in Karachi with the other suspects before being arrested. The spokesperson claimed that while he was being transported back by the CCD, the convoy came under attack. Sarfraz was allegedly killed by gunfire from his own accomplices during the exchange of fire. The spokesperson further claimed that the suspects, including a woman, had been constantly changing locations before their arrest the previous night. The bride was shot dead on the day of her reception in Gujranwala city, allegedly by the prime suspect whose marriage proposal was declined by her family.

According to the CCD Gujranwala, the suspect opened fire on her after stopping her vehicle as she returned from her wedding reception. A department spokesperson said the case was registered at a CCD police station on the complaint of the deceased’s father. The Gujranwala CCD booked three suspects — Sarfraz, his female cousin and an unidentified accomplice — under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 311 (Ta’zir after waiver or compounding of right of qisas in qatl-i-amd), 109 (punishment for abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The CCD, established last year, has been criticised by human rights advocates and civil society members for a high number of casualties. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) alleged earlier this year that the CCD has adopted a “deliberate policy of staged police…