Television anchor Rabia Ahsan, a programme host with private channel 92 News, was found dead with a gunshot wound at her home in Rawalpindi on Sunday, police have confirmed. Her husband has been taken into custody as investigators work to establish how she died.

Police said her body was found in the bedroom of the house in Gulshanabad, Sector 2, on Adiala Road. Rawalpindi City Police Officer Hassan Mushtaq Sukhera, who visited the scene, said she had sustained a single gunshot wound to the front of her neck, just below the throat. Officers recovered a firearm from the house, and a team from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency collected evidence from the scene.

Ahsan had hosted the current affairs programme Muqabil on 92 News, and reports said she had presented her programme on the night before her death. Her husband, identified in reports as Ahsan Tahir Khan, was detained for questioning, and police said a case was being registered. Her body was taken to hospital for a post-mortem examination.

According to reports in Express Urdu and ARY News, the husband told investigators in his initial statement that the gun had not been fired intentionally and that the shooting was accidental. Police have not confirmed that account and say no motive has been established. They say all aspects of the case are being investigated, and further legal proceedings will follow once the forensic findings and other evidence have been examined.

Reports also said Ahsan was the mother of two daughters. The death has drawn tributes from colleagues in the media, with many noting that she had been on air only hours earlier. Police have appealed for the investigation to be allowed to run its course before conclusions are drawn about what happened inside the house.