They said that two young friends - Qari Jalal Ahmed and Muhammad Irfan -were heading towards the latter's home on a motorbike when assailants, also on a motorcycle, intercepted them near Shafiq Mor, a traffic intersection linking the New Karachi Industrial Area with North Karachi, and opened fire.

"According to some witnesses, one of the assailants got off the motorbike and fired shots at them," said Inspector Kamal Nasim, the SHO of the Taimuria police station. "They fired more than a dozen shots and rode away. The two friends fell to the ground after sustaining bullet wounds."

Qari Jalal died before reaching the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and his friend died at the health facility five hours after the attack, said the SHO.

"The victims are said to be the activists of the ASWJ and the incident appears to be linked with the recent attacks on sectarian grounds. We have found several spent bullet casings at the scene, which suggested that a 9mm pistol was used in the attack," he added.

A spokesman for the ASWJ, formerly proscribed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, said that the victims were returning home after attending a party meeting and were "killed only because of their association with the organisation".

He said that Qari Jalal was a seminary teacher and lived in Scout Colony in Gulshan-i-Iqbal. "He owned the bike and was going to drop Irfan home in Kausar Niazi Colony in North Nazimabad. We strongly condemn the incident and see it as a failure of the security administration and the police," he added.

A case (FIR 62/2012) was registered at the Taimuria police station under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code against unidentified persons.

'ST worker' shot dead

An activist of the Sunni Tehrik was shot dead in Lines Area in the early hours of Friday, police said.

They said that 24-year-old Sajid Ali Siddiqi was shot dead a few yards from his home in Jut Land Lines, commonly known as Jutt Lane.

"He was sitting with a friend late in the night," said Inspector Ghulam Rasool Sayal, the SHO of the Brigade police station. "According to his friend, four or five youngsters came there and asked Sajid to leave following a heated argument. Then he heard a single shot and the bullet hit the victim in the head."

The SHO ruled out the possibility that the attack was a case of targeted killing. He said that available evidence and initial findings suggested that the victim was killed due to some personal issue.

The victim's family also denied his association with any political or religious group, the SHO added.

However, a spokesman for the ST insisted that Sajid was an active member of Unit-197 of the party's organisational structure and said he had reason to believe that the victim was attacked because of his association with the party.