KARACHI, May 8: Three persons, including an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, were shot dead in the city on Tuesday, police said.

They said that the first incident took place within the remit of the Orangi Town police station.

Mirza Sarfaraz, 38, was going to open his general store in Orangi Town’s Sector 12-L from his Liaquatabad residence and when he reached near Chamcha Hotel two armed men riding a motorcycle targeted him. He suffered seven bullet wounds and died on the spot. However, the assailants escaped, the police said.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Scores of MQM workers also reached the health facility after hearing the news of the killing.

Area DSP Tariq Malik said the victim was an active worker of the unit 119 of the MQM’s organisational structure and a resident of Al-Azam Square in Liaquatabad. He was unmarried.

He said as the victim belonged to the Shia community, the police were unsure about the motive of the murder, which could be either political or sectarian.

The police found seven spent bullet casings of 9mm pistol at the scene.

The body was later taken to Shah-i-Karbala Imambargah in Rizvia Society, where tension gripped surrounding areas and all shops and markets were closed. The victim was buried in Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard.

Till late in the night, no case was registered at the Orangi Town police station regarding the killing.

In another incident, a man was shot dead in an Orangi Town locality within the remit of the Pirabad police station on Tuesday.

Police said the incident took place near Iqra Medical Centre in Qasba Colony, where Naseeb Ullah, 39, was sitting when two armed men came on a motorcycle, opened fire on him and rode away. He suffered two bullet wounds on the head and neck and died on the spot.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

DSP Tariq Malik said that victim was a watchman of a factory and was employed there for the past seven years. He lived in Qasba Colony, but originally hailed from Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The area DSP said personal enmity could be a likely motive behind the incident.

No case was registered till late in the night.

Meanwhile, an unidentified young man was found shot dead in a street in the Gurumandir area early Tuesday morning, police said.

They said the victim, aged around 24, was shot dead on the same place from where his body was found. His hands were tied with a plastic rope used in packaging. The police said that it was not clear how the victim was brought to the place.

Wearing jeans and shirt, the victim was shot thrice to the head.

The police found three spent bullet casings of a 9mm pistol from the crime-scene.

A duty officer at the Soldier Bazaar police station said the body was found in a Gurumandir street close to the KMC Masjid.

“The man was shot on the spot…his legs were not tied but hands were tied,” said the duty officer.

The police shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities. Later, the body was taken to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth for want of identification.

A case (FIR 152/2012) was registered under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code against unknown persons on behalf of the state at the Soldier Bazaar police station.