A young man murdered an Ahmadi doctor in the Gujrat district of Punjab and then killed himself on Sunday — in an incident that police claim did not involve religious hatred against Ahmadis in Pakistan.

Rasheed, 70, practiced homeopathy at the small clinic he had set up in his home in Goteriala village, 50km north of Gujrat city.

He was a dual Norwegian-Pakistani national and living almost alone as most of his family members have moved to Norway.

An FIR registered on the complaint of Rasheed’s nephew Zarar said that Rasheed was examining some patients at his clinic at around 3:30pm when a gunshot was heard.

Zarar said he saw two men flee the clinic. He learned their names later, Babar and Inaam.

Zarar found his uncle lying in a pool of blood; he died before being taken to a hospital.

Shortly after the murder of the Ahmadi doctor, a man was found dead in the fields on the outskirts of the village. He was identified as 22-year-old Inaam — one of the two men named in the FIR.

Police officials told Aaj News that initial reports suggested Inaam murdered Rasheed and then killed himself.

Police have arrested Babar, the other man named in the FIR.

Police officials said that the murder was the result of a personal dispute and it followed an exchange of strong words between Rasheed and Inaam. Police continue to explore other angles and facts will be revealed soon, the officials said.

However, a spokesperson of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya insisted that the murder was religiously motivated.

Rasheed was running a free dispensary for the village and he had no enmity with anyone, said Amir Mehmood, the spokesperson.

Mehmood said a rise has been seen in anti-Ahmadi hate speech on social media in recent weeks.