KARACHI, Nov 13: The city on Tuesday had no respite from the ongoing violence as four more people, including an excise police officer, were gunned down in different areas, bringing the death toll over the past four days to 45.

Two men were killed and another man was wounded in a gun attack on a teashop in Orangi Town.

Police said that Bahsir Khan, 55, Shahid Yaqoob, 35, and Gul Mohammad were wounded when armed men riding a motorbike opened fire on a teashop in Aligarh Bazaar, Orangi No 1. The police said that Bashir Khan and Gul Mohammad died while being shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, while Shahid was admitted to the hospital for treatment.

Gul hailed from Swat and was a resident of Bokhari Colony, Orangi, while Bashir and Shahid hailed from Haripur and worked at the shop, said an official at the Orangi Town police station.

DSP Rustam Nawaz said the victims didn’t belong to any political or religious group and it seemed that suspects tried to take advantage of the ongoing violence to settle a personal score.  The bazaar closed following the shooting.

‘Sectarian’ attack

Later during the day, an excise police official was shot dead and a passer-by was wounded in what police suspected a sectarian attack in Orangi Town.

Jamal Raza, 35, a constable in the excise police, was passing through Sector 4-F when armed men riding a motorbike targeted him, said an official at the Mominabad police station.

The excise police constable suffered gunshot wounds in the chest and head, causing his instant death, the official added.

The victim had shifted to his brother’s house in Orangi Town from his Malir residence about seven months back, the official said.

Sindh Excise Director General Shoaib Siddiqui told Dawn that Jamal Raza was posted at the directorate of taxes in the professional tax section. Initial information showed he was distributing tax challans in the town when he was attacked, the DG said.

“It looks like a sectarian killing but all possibilities are being looked into, as the killing could also be related to the narcotics business in the area,” said DIG (west) Javed Odho.

After medico-legal formalities at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the body was shifted to Markazi Imambargah Jaffar-i-Tayyar Society, Malir. The funeral of the excise constable will take place on Wednesday after Zuhr at the Markazi Imambargah.

Man killed in Korangi

A candy stall owner was killed in Sector 48-B, Noorani Basti, Korangi, police said.

They added armed men riding a motorcycle fired at the stall killing Shahid Zahoor, its owner, on the spot.

Zaman Town SHO Iqtidar Alam said that the victim was handicapped in one leg and a drug addict.

He also used to sell heroin in small quantities, the police said, adding that the killing seemed to be the result of a rivalry between drug peddlers.

The police said the victim was an area resident. They shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

Hand grenades seized

Nine hand grenades found in a vacant plot in Kunwari Colony in Manghopir were seized on Tuesday, police claimed.

They added that acting on a tip-off the police along with bomb disposal unit went to Kunwari Colony and recovered nine hand grenades hidden in three polythene bags in a garbage dump.