KARACHI, Aug 19: A man and his nephew were gunned down in an attack apparently on sectarian grounds in the Buffer Zone area on Monday morning, police said.

They said that Nasim Rafi and his nephew Pervez Nadeem were on their way to offer Fajr prayers at the Noor-ul-Huda mosque in Buffer Zone’s Sector-15-A when gunmen travelling in a white Toyota Corolla car targeted them and fled.

Taimuria SHO Ejaz Lodhi said that the wounded were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors pronounced them dead.

“The double murder appeared to be an outcome of sectarianism,” said SSP-Central Amir Farooqi.

He said Naseem had returned to Pakistan from the United Kingdom to attend the funeral of his father and was supposed to go back on Tuesday (today).

He belonged to the Tablighi Jamaat and appeared to be the real target of the attackers, the police officer said.

Two political activists killed in Garden

The killing of a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement sparked violence in the Garden area in which a Sunni Tehreek activist was also killed, police said.

They said that three friends were sitting in Hassan Lashkari Street when armed riders opened fire on them and fled. The wounded were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) where doctors pronounced Mohammed Rizwan, 25, dead on arrival, while Nawab Miandad and Saqib Arshad were admitted for treatment.

The deceased was a worker of the MQM, said Garden SHO Imdad Khawaja.

He said that the murder sparked violence as shops and other commercial activities were shut.

Gunmen fired into the air and bullets hit Mohammed Faisal aka Shani on Mirza Adam Khan Road near Kashti mosque, he said, adding that the wounded was taken to the CHK where he was pronounced dead.

The area SHO said that the victim was an activist of the ST.

The police said tension had gripped certain parts of Garden on Sunday night over removal of a portrait.

Killing in Napier

A sanitary worker was shot dead in the Napier area on Monday.

Police said that Victor Boota was riding a motorcycle when two motorcyclists fired at him near the Noorani bus terminal and rode away.

He sustained four bullet wounds in the abdomen and head and was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi where doctors declared him dead.

Napier SHO Fasih Zaman said that the victim was a resident of Lyari and it appeared that the assailants chased and killed him.