TWO people from East Lancashire have been arrested over the murder of a 21-year-old man in a Pakistan hotel bedroom.

The 44-year-old Haslingden man and the 22-year-old Accrington woman were detained after getting off a plane from Islamabad at Manchester Airport.

The victim, a Pakistani national named in Pakistan as Khurram Mukhtar or Khurram Shahzad, died after being attacked in a hotel in Rawalpindi, 35 miles south of Islamabad.

It is understood that he had been repeatedly stabbed.

According to the Daily Asia, the English version of the Ausaf newspaper, based in Lahore, before he died he was able to give police the names of the people he believed had attacked him.

It said he told police that he had arranged to meet his wife at the Comfort Inn hotel in the Mothimahal district of Rawalpindi shortly before the stabbing.

The Dawn national newspaper said Khurram, a resident of the Gujar Khan area of Pakistan, got married about one-and-a-half years ago.

It said he booked a van and went to Rawalpindi along with a friend to meet his wife. It said that on reaching Rawalpindi the friend booked a room in a hotel located at Rialto Chowk.

It said Khurram then asked the friend, who has been taken into custody in Pakistan, to leave him alone for some time and a couple arrived and went straight to his room. It quoted police as saying the couple left after about 20 minutes.

The two people arrested on suspicion of murder have been released on bail by police until February 5 pending further inquiries.

Greater Manchester Police said the victim was attacked at about 2pm on Saturday.

He was taken to hospital where he died of his injuries a short time later.

The two people were arrested after Pakistan International Airlines flight 701 landed at the airport's Terminal One at 12.05pm on Sunday.

A statement from Greater Manchester Police said: "Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder at Manchester Airport after a man was attacked in a hotel room in Pakistan.

"The 21-year-old man was attacked around 2pm on Saturday at a hotel in Rawalpindi. He was taken to hospital where he died a short time later.

"Officers from GMP are currently liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Pakistani authorities to progress the investigation."