In Korangi, 28-year-old Akbar, the Pasban worker, was sitting outside his home along with two friends. He was spotted by two men on a motorbike in Korangi 100 Quarters and one of them fired multiple shots at him, the police added.

“Hit by three bullets, he died on the spot,” said Zaman Town SHO Sub-Inspector Abdul Nabi Khokhar. “Akbar was attacked when he was sitting with two friends — Irfan and Shahbaz — outside his home. The friends told the police that they did not recognise the assailants.”

The police initially questioned the two friends, but released them later after finding no link with the killing, he said, adding that the victim's association with the youth organisation was not the motive of the killing.

“We traced the record and it transpired that the victim had some disputes with a group or two. Similarly, he joined the organisation recently and was not among its very senior members,” said the area SHO.

In another incident in Korangi, a young rickshaw driver was shot dead when he was returning home in the early hours of Wednesday.

The police said that 27-year-old Muhammad Nazar was intercepted and shot at from a very close range by two men on a motorcycle when he was returning home in Sector 33-C.

“It was his routine to park the CNG rickshaw inside his home,” said Korangi SHO Inspector Shakir Ali. “The motive behind the killing is not clear. Since the attackers did not take away cash or other valuables, we don't think it was a robbery attempt.”

The family of the victim denied his association with any political party or other group, the SHO said, adding that it would take time to trace the reasons behind the murder.

After completing medico-legal formalities at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the police registered a case (FIR 284/10) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code against unknown persons on the complaint of the victim's younger brother.

In Orangi Town, unidentified assailants shot dead another rickshaw driver, police said.

They said that some eyewitnesses told the police that 34-year-old Muhammad Deen was signalled to stop by two men standing on a roadside near Urdu Chowk in Sector 10 of Orangi Town. “However, he did not stop and tried to speed away the vehicle upon which one of the two assailants fired at him,” said an official at the Mominabad police station. “He died on the spot after being hit by two bullets in the head and abdomen while the two men escaped from the scene.”

Though the victim's family denied that he had any enmity or political association, the official said that the police believed that victim knew his attackers very well. “The victim recognised the two men and he might have sensed the danger and preferred to speed away, but couldn't do so due to the firing,” the official said, adding that the victim was a resident of Ghaziabad in Sector 11½, Orangi Town.

The driver of an intercity bus service was gunned down inside the bus while he was asleep near Cantt Station.

The police said that the victim, Anwar Khan, in his mid-forties, was sleeping inside the 70-seater bus parked near Cantt Railway Station when a car carrying three men stopped near the vehicle. “Witnesses said that they saw a man getting off the car and entering the bus,” said IArtillery Maidan SHO nspector Ahsan Zulfiqar. “A few seconds later, they heard sound of multiple gunshots before witnessing the same man coming out of the bus and getting into the car that disappeared from the scene in a flash.”

The people around later entered the bus and found Anwar Khan lying in a pool of blood, he said, adding that the victim hailed from Jacobabad and was employed as a driver for the last 13 years.

“It appears to be a case of personal enmity, but the family has not share any facts with investigators. They were not even interested in lodging an FIR but we have convinced them to go ahead with the legal proceedings,” said the area SHO.