KARACHI: Four family members — father, mother and two children — were found dead in their residence in Karachi's Manzoor Colony area Wednesday morning. The youngest family member, an eight-year-old boy, was found alive but had sustained critical injuries.

Police surgeon Dr. Jalil Qadir said the mother and the two deceased children were stabbed to death. The father, he said, was suffocated to death with the help of a hard object.

The victims were identified as Tariq, 45, his wife Samina, 40, their son Saad, 15, and daughter Rumeesa, 13. Hammad, eight, was found alive but critically injured.

SSP Investigation-South Faizullah Korejo said initial investigation suggested they were murdered by someone who "might have stayed there as the family’s guest."

Tariq, originally hailing from Dera Ismail Khan, was a Quran teacher who taught pupils at their homes.

Three killed in alleged sectarian attacks

Three men were shot dead in two separate incidents in suspected sectarian attacks, said police officials.

A bakery owner, Imran Iqbal, 30, and his employee, Waqas, 27, were gunned down in an attack on their shop in North Karachi.

They belonged to the Deobandi school of thought and may have been targeted on sectarian grounds, said Karachi-Central SSP Muqaddas Haider.

In another incident in Shah Faisal Colony, a worker of Sunni Tehreek (Bilal Qadri group), Mohammed Qasim, 28, was killed, said SHO Ejaz Khan.