LAHORE, April 22: Four people were shot dead and two others, including a passerby, injured in an attack apparently linked to an old rivalry, at Lakshmi Chowk on Thursday.

Eyewitnesses told police that a car was intercepted at the traffic signal by another car. Three men, armed with automatic weapons, emerged from it and sprayed the first vehicle with a volley of bullets.

The police reached the spot and removed the victims to the Mayo Hospital. Identified as Zafar alias Zafri Nat (32), his two friends Zulfikar (35) and Rashid Butt (30), and nephew Afzal Nat (25) were pronounced dead by doctors on arrival at the hospital.

The condition of driver Zaheer Khan (28) and passerby Munawwar Ali (50) was stated to be critical at the hospital. Zafar Nat is said to be the son of a notorious roughneck, the late Noori Nat.

The Cantonment SP said Zafri had recently been released from jail after completing his 12-year term. He had an old rivalry with Malik Iftikhar over some property. He had also been named by the Malik group in some murder cases.

Malik's son Imtiaz had also got registered a case last week against Nat for trying to grab some property in northern part of the city. The SP said a case had been registered against Malik Iftikhar and accomplices with no arrest.