A couple who contracted a free-will marriage in Karachi earlier this year were killed allegedly on the orders of a jirga, police said on Monday.

Abdul Hadi and Hussaini Bibi, who hailed from Kohistan, married without permission from their elders about a month and a half ago, Mominabad police told DawnNews. They had rented a house within the jurisdiction of the Mominabad police station earlier this month.

On November 24, the residents of the area spotted blood around the house that had been rented by the couple and reported it to the police.

As police began investigating the case, the victims' bodies were recovered from the Qaimkhani graveyard in Ittehad Town and sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Senior Superintendent of Police Orangi Abid Baloch said police had arrested a suspect who confessed to killing the couple, along with some accomplices, on the orders of a jirga.

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah today took notice of the incident and expressed anger over the couple's murder. "This is Karachi, not a tribal area. How was a jirga held here?" he asked.

Explore: Jirgas thrive in Karachi in clear defiance of state’s writ

CM Shah directed Inspector General (IG) of Police A.D. Khawaja to conduct a thorough investigation and present a detailed report of the incident as soon as possible.

He also ordered the IGP to find out how a jirga was able to operate in the city, DawnNews reported.

Subsequently, the police claimed to have arrested eight more suspects involved in the killing and then burying the bodies. The father of the male victim was among those arrested.

However, the police were conducting raids to arrest the brother and father of the deceased girl.

Meanwhile, post-mortem examination of the bodies carried out by senior medico-legal official Dr Rohina Hassan at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital revealed that they were strangled to death, said police surgeon Dr Aijaz Khokhar.

Quoting the medico-legal report, the police surgeon added that the body of the male also bore torture marks.

In September, police had exhumed bodies of a girl (15), and a boy (17), who had reportedly been electrocuted by their families on the orders of a jirga in Karachi.