Aftab Afridi was on his way back to Islamabad from Swat where he was serving for the last two months.

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association President Latif Afridi, his son and three other relatives were booked for the murder of Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge Aftab Afridi, his wife, daughter-in-law and her son.

On Sunday evening, Judge Aftab Afridi was travelling to Islamabad from Peshawar when his car came under fire at the Swabi Interchange on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway. Aftab Afridi, his wife Bibi Zainab, daughter-in-law Kiran and three-year-old grandson Mohammad Sanan died while the driver was seriously injured.

The bullet-ridden car of the slain judge.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had told Dawn.com that "apparently it was a targeted attack."

According to the police statement issued on Monday, a joint operation team carried out an operation in Peshawar and Khyber and apprehended five suspects.

Aftab Afridi was on his way back to Islamabad from Swat where he was serving for the last two months when the incident happened. When his vehicle reached the Ambar Interchange on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, some unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire on the judge and his family in the jurisdiction of the Chota Lahore City Police Station.

Mardan police official Yaseen Farooq reached the spot along with District Police Officer (DPO), Swabi, Muhammad Shoaib, soon after the incident. Shoaib told reporters that the two women and a child shot dead along with the judge were his relatives.

Police said the attackers were able to escape. The victims were shot from a close range and the photos of the deceased showed that a volley of bullets was fired at them.

While, on the complaint of the judge’s son at Chota Lahore police station in Swabi, a case is registered against those involved in the murder.

According to KP police the case is registered against total nine people including Abdul Latif Afridi who is member of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) for their alleged role in the killing of the ATC judge and his family members in an attack near Swabi interchange.

Besides nominating PTM member Abdul Latif Afridi in the FIR, the son of the judge also nominated four other people including Jamil, Danish Afridi, Jamal Afridi

and Abid Muhammad Shafiq. Four unknown people were also nominated in the murder case of the judge. Officials said judges working in the ATCs remain at risk as they hear and decide cases of terrorism suspects.

Jehangir Khan, driver of the judge, was seriously injured and was taken to the Bacha Khan Hospital Complex at Shahmansoor in Swabi. Two security guards of the judge travelling in another vehicle were also injured.

The attack was condemned by Prime Minister Imran Khan. "The perpetrators of this gruesome act will be apprehended and dealt with the full severity of the law,” he said in a tweet.

KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan ordered a probe into the incident and directed the police to bring the attackers to justice as early as possible.