KARACHI, Oct 7: Nine persons, including two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, were gunned down in acts of violence in the city on Sunday, police said.

Besides other city areas, Orangi Town was badly hit by the incidents of violence on Sunday where four men, including the two MQM activists, fell victim to targeted killing.

The police said gunmen riding a motorbike intercepted two men, Nihal Akhtar, 28, and Noorul Huda, 30, who were also on a motorcycle, in Chishti Nagar, a locality in Orangi Town No 7, fired a volley of bullets on them ad rode away.

Iqbal Market police said that the victims were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

They said both men were associated with the MQM. Akhtar was a former office-bearer of the party’s Orangi Town unit and was currently employed at the Port Qasim Authority, while the second victim was his friend and also a party worker.

Following the incident tension gripped parts of Orangi Town, where shops and markets were closed.

In the second incident, an unidentified young man was gunned down by assailants riding a motorbike near Kati Pahari in Orangi Town No 1.

The victim appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He died on the spot. The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Earlier in the day, a driver of route G-27 minibus was shot dead in Orangi Town No 7.

Armed men riding a motorcycle fired a single shot at driver Rahim Khan, 27, and escaped. He died on the spot. The body was shifted to ASH for medico-legal formalities.

The police were not sure about the exact motive for the killing.

When contacted, Karachi police chief Iqbal Mehmood told Dawn that it was too early to say that all the four killings in Orangi Town were interlinked. “We have sent the empty casings to the forensic division to come to a certain conclusion,” he added.

Two found shot dead in graveyard Bodies of two unidentified men were found in the Mewashah graveyard within the remit of the Pak Colony police station on Sunday.

The police said the trussed-up bodies bore torture marks and the victims had been shot in their heads.

The bodies were moved to the Civil Hospital Karachi for a post-mortem examination. Later, the bodies were shifted to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.

Gravedigger killed A gravedigger was killed in a Nazimabad area on Sunday, police said.

They said the incident took place within the remit of the Paposh Nagar police post where unknown motorcyclists opened fire at Muneer Ahmed, who was a gravedigger at the Paposhnagar graveyard.

The victim suffered serious bullet wounds and was rushed to ASH, where he was declared dead.

The police suspected personal enmity as a likely motive for the killing.

Youth shot dead in Gulbahar A young man was shot dead in Gulbahar on Sunday.

Police said gunmen riding a motorcycle targeted Ahmed Ali within the remit of the Gulbahar police station and fled. The victim was rushed to ASH, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

DSP Iftikhar Lodhi said the incident was a result of some personal enmity as the victim had a family dispute.

Shot dead in Surjani Town An unidentified man was killed in a drive-by shooting in Surjani Town on Sunday.

Police said that the incident took place in Khuda Ki Basti within the remit of the Surjani Town police station. The victim died on the spot. The body was shifted to ASH.They said the victim could not be identified immediately.

Decomposed body The decomposed body of an unidentified man was found in a garbage dump in Jamshed Quarters on Sunday morning, police said.

They said it appeared that the body had lain there for the last many days and it had decomposed badly.

The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities.