What was thought to be the religiously-motivated slaying of a Presbyterian pastor is now suspected as a murder for hire, perpetrated by the man’s wife and her lover.
On Dec. 5 in Gujranwala in Pakistan’s Punjab province, two men on a motorcycle shot Kamran Salamat in front of one of his three children outside his home, reported Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Salamat died in a hospital a few hours later.
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In September, Salamat had sustained a leg injury when shot in Islamabad. He relocated the family to Gujranwala after that incident and operated a sewing center where poor women could earn an income.
Salamat’s work in Muslim communities or a possible dispute regarding church property were initially thought to be the motivation for the Dec. 5 slaying. However, police believe that Salamat’s wife, Salmina Kamran, and her Muslim lover, Najam Ul Saqib, planned the attack.
Police think Saqib paid two men from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province the equivalent of $11,800 to kill Salamat. The pastor’s wife was then to seek religious asylum in the United States and wait for Saqib to join her.
Arrested
Saqib and the pastor’s wife were taken into custody.
The suspected hired killers were arrested but then killed when accomplices attempted to rescue them, police told Christian Daily-Morning Star.
Pakistan is No. 8 on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.
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