KARACHI, Oct 15: An activist of the Sunni Tehrik was shot dead in New Karachi on Monday, police said.

The killing caused fear and tension in the area and later an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was shot at and wounded in the same locality in what police described as an incident apparently related to the ST man’s killing.

They said that assailants riding a motorcycle fired shots at Usman Qadri, 26, who was sitting with a friend outside an ST office in New Karachi’s Sector 5-J within the remit of the Bilal Colony police station.

The victim suffered five bullet wounds and died on the spot. The gunmen managed to escape.

Area DSP Mohammad Akhtar said that the victim was an ST activist. He used to sit at the party’s office, which had been closed for the past two months. Therefore, he spent his time at a shop located between his house and the party’s office, he added.

ST spokesman Fahim Qadri said that the victim was an active worker in the New Karachi area.

Following the killing, tension gripped the locality where shops and markets were closed and the area reverberated with sound of heavy firing.

Shortly after the killing of the ST worker, an MQM activist, identified as Junaid Ahmed, was shot at and wounded in New Karachi’s Sector 5-E, also within the remit of the Bilal Colony police station.

He was rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was admitted for treatment.

With the attack on the MQM man, the situation in the area started deteriorating and extra contingents of the police and Rangers were deployed to avert any breakdown of law and order.