KARACHI, Sept 24: A young man was killed and his two brothers were wounded in a targeted attack on Monday morning in Jaffar-i-Tayyar Society, Malir, police said.

While officials at the Malir City police station suspected that it was a sectarian attack, a high-ranking officer of the area said it did not appear to be sectarian. He added that the victims’ relatives seemed reluctant to share details of  the incident with the police.

The police officials quoted some eyewitnesses as saying that armed men were spotted sitting close to the victims’ residence before the attack. As they knocked at the door, one of the three brothers, Shoaib Raza, came out. They asked Shoaib to call his brother, Mohsin Raza, and as soon as the latter came out they opened fire on them. Hearing gunshots, another brother, Hasan Raza, rushed to the door. The attackers also fired at him and fled, the police said.

The officials said that all the three were rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where Shoaib died, while his two brothers who also had sustained gunshot wounds were admitted for treatment.

The police said that Mohsin was an engineer in PIA.

They quoted the family sources as saying that a few days back, some persons had come to the house, asking for Mohsin. They wanted Mohsin to attest a form but returned finding that he was not at home.

The family was also quoted as saying that the three brothers had no political affiliation or personal enmity.

The funeral prayer for Shoaib Raza was held at the Markazi Imambargah, Jaffar-i-Tayyar Society, on Monday evening.

The police initially cited sectarian motive for the killing, but said that other possibilities were also being looked into.

Asked about motive for the killing, DIG (east) Shahid Hayat told Dawn that the police were not sure about it. “But it does not appear sectarian since there’s no protest whatsoever, people of the area and victims’ relatives perhaps know the motive, but they are not willing to say anything.”

Truck driver killed A truck driver was killed in a drive-by shooting under the Baloch Colony flyover on Monday morning, police said.

They added Farhad Khan, 45, a resident of PECHS Block 6, was cleaning his truck when armed men riding a motorbike fired at him within the remit of the Ferozabad police station and fled. He sustained two bullets in his head and neck and died on the spot, the officials said.

The police later shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

The police investigators said that the victim hailed from Peshawar and his family told them that he had divorced his wife who lived in Peshawar.

According to some eyewitnesses, they said the armed men had a brief chat with the victim before they fired at him and sped away.

Body found The body of a young man bearing torture marks and three gunshot wounds was found near Lyari Expressway within the remit of the Shershah police station, police said.

The victim was trussed up and blindfolded, the officials said, adding that they could not find any clue to his identity.

They shifted the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities. Later, the body was taken to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.

Man wounded A man sustained gunshot wounds while his brother-in-law, a former joint secretary of the Karachi Bar Association, remained unhurt in a gun attack on their car near the Karachi zoo on Monday morning, police said.

The Karachi and Malir bar associations gave a call for boycott of court proceedings shortly after the vehicle of Advocate Farhat Hussain Naqvi came under attack in the Garden area.

Subsequently, legal proceedings remained partially suspended at the city courts and Malir courts.

The police said Nasir Hussain, an employee of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, sustained gunshot wounds in the targeted attack carried out by armed men riding a motorbike within the remit of the Nabi Bakhsh police station.

The police added that the victim was accompanied by his brother-in-law, Farhat Hussain Naqvi, former joint secretary of the KBA, who remained unhurt.

The police said that investigation was under way to ascertain the motive for the killing.