PESHAWAR, Jan 26: Unidentified gunmen on Friday injured two people and kidnapped a hotel’s manager in two separate incidents in the provincial capital.

The incidents appeared to be sectarian in nature, though police didn’t confirm it on the record.

A police official told Dawn that Ashiq Hussain from Parachinar and his friend, Fayyaz Khan from Kaga Wala in Peshawar’s Badbher area, suffered minor injures after a motorcyclist opened fire on them near Kohat Bus Stand at 10:30pm.

When contacted, SHO of Bala Mani Police Station Ghaffar Khan said a man riding a motorcycle fired shots from his pistol on Ashiq and Fayyaz and fled.

He said according to witnesses, the injured were attacked shortly after they left their workplace at Kohat Bus Stand for their room in a nearby hotel.

The SHO said though Ashiq belonged to the Shia community, it had yet to be ascertained whether he was subjected to sectarian violence.

Another police official said the injured being treated at Lady Reading Hospital were reported to be stable.

He said the two had told police that they had no enmity with anyone and knew nothing about attackers.

Also in the day, Kamal Hussain, manager at a hotel in Kocha Risaldar area, was kidnapped by unidentified people, said a police official. He said Kamal, according to his family, had no enmity. When contacted, officials of Khan Raziq Police station said they had learned about the disappearance of Kamal and had no information about his whereabouts.

He said police had yet to register an FIR of the incident.

Meanwhile, Waseem Abbas, spokesman for Imamia Students Organisation, declared Kamal’s disappearance kidnapping and said that was part of growing sectarian violence.

He told Dawn that Kamal had long been working as a manager of the hotel and had recently opened his own shop in the surroundings of Imambargah Alamdar.

“He went missing shortly after leaving home to meet someone in the area,” the ISO leader said, adding that Kamal’s all three cellphones were switched off.

Mr Abbas criticised the government for failing to ensure protection of the members of religious minorities, especially Shias.

He said over the last few months, many Shias, including businessman Abrar Hussain, Dr Riaz Hussain Shah and Dr Shah Nawaz Ali, were killed and a judge was shot at and injured as part of sectarian violence, but police had yet to arrest a single attacker.The ISO leader warned that the people, especially Shias, might agitate against the government over failure to check the growing sectarian killings.