KARACHI, Nov 10: Police found bullet-riddled and tortured bodies of four young men in Pak Colony on Saturday believed to be members of one of several criminal gangs operating in Lyari and victims of ongoing bloody warfare among rival groups.

Police said the four appeared to be in their late 20s and early 30s and wearing shalwar-kameez found shot dead at midnight in Rexer Lines within the remit of the Pak Colony police station neighbouring Lyari.

The bodies were later shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi.

“The bodies have been identified as those of Munawwar Baloch alias Pathan, Shahid Baloch alias KK, Babar and Qadir. They lived in Pak Colony and had a history of crime,” said Inspector Abdul Wahid Awan, the SHO Pak Colony police station.

“Initial findings suggest all of them left home after sunset on Friday evening after receiving phone calls. The victims were hit by multiple bullets and at least two bodies also carried torture marks,” he said.

Majority of residents of the area were unaware of the bloody episode that took place in the dark of the night but as soon it became known early in the morning on Saturday all commercial activities and daily life came to a halt in the densely-populated neighbourhood. Shops remained closed and transport stayed off the roads till evening.

The investigators found no other motive for the murders but criminal gangs’ bloody warfare going on for almost a decade in Lyari and its adjoining old city areas.

Though unaware of the exact reasons that led to killings of the four youngsters, they said the victims themselves were not known for good reasons. “They were associated with a criminal gang that dealt in drugs, kidnapping and arms,” said SP Akram Abro of Site Town.

“Munawwar was brother of Anwar alias Kojack, ringleader of a gang. The murders appeared to be a result of inter-gang rivalry.

At this moment, investigations are at very early stage but initial findings suggest they were called to resolve a lingering dispute but somehow the meeting turned ugly and ended up in their deaths,” he added.