Islamabad, Jan 15 (IANS) Two women — the mother and sister of the joint secretary in Pakistan’s cabinet division — died when gunmen targeting a wanted killer pumped bullets inside a wrong room in an Islamabad hospital.

Saleh Bibi, 60, and Bilqees Bibi, 30, mother and sister of Mohammad Ayaz Khan, were killed in the VIP Ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital Saturday night, Geo News reported Sunday.

The attackers wanted to kill a man named Rana Sarwat, allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a businessman for ransom but who later killed him.

However, the gunmen targeted a wrong room, and opened fire inside it through a window, police said. The assailants fled the spot after the attack.

Police said this was the third failed attempt on Sarwat’s life.

Saleh Bibi died on the spot, while her daughter Bilqees, who was in the hospital to attend to her mother, received multiple wounds. She was rushed to the operation theatre but succumbed to her injuries.

Earlier, two attempts had been made on Sarwat’s life in the last six months.

He was attacked in the Islamabad district court area but narrowly escaped. In the second attempt, he received a bullet in his shoulder. The assailant was nabbed by a group of students.

Rana Sarwat, a resident of Lahore, allegedly kidnapped businessman Khawaja Zahid from the city. He confined him inside a house and demanded Rs.20 million as ransom, police said.