Bio

He was a resident of District Layyah, located in Punjab Province, Pakistan, and worked as a sweet shop owner. The shop was reportedly co-owned with his brother, with whom Mahmood had an ongoing personal and business dispute.

Mahmood was engaged in the preparation and sale of traditional confectionery items, including laddu, a popular baked sweet commonly distributed during celebrations such as births, weddings, and religious occasions. His profession placed him in direct control of food production consumed by large numbers of people in the local community.

Murder Story

From 20 April to 8 May 2016 at least 33 people, including five children, died in District Layyah, Punjab, Pakistan after eating laddu that was purposely poisoned. Testing of the sweets found the insecticide chlorfenapyr. A sweet shop owner, Khalid Mahmood, confessed to mixing the pesticide into the sweets after an argument with his brother and co-owner.

A nearby pesticide shop was being renovated and its owner had left products at the bakery for safekeeping. Mahmood may have used a small packet from those products in the sweet mixture.

On 17 April a man bought 5 kg of laddu for the celebration of a newborn. At least 50 people ate the sweets, and ten of them died the same day. By 25 April the death toll had risen to 23, with 52 people still being treated in hospitals. On 1 May the death toll rose to 33, with 13 people in hospital.

In one case a baby lost his father, six uncles, and one aunt. Two shop owners and one worker were initially arrested. Two weeks later police announced that Mahmood had confessed.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the incident would be thoroughly investigated and ordered the police to take action. Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Layyah on 2 May and expressed his condolences.