KARACHI: A shopkeeper and his employee were shot dead in North Karachi on Wednesday afternoon, the Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police said.

They added that Imran Iqbal, 30, and his employee, Waqas, 27, were sitting at their Al-Madina Bakers in Sector-5-B-1 when armed motorcyclists came and opened fire on them.

They sustained critical wounds and were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival. The investigators collected four spent bullet casings fired from the 0.9mm pistol.

The double murder appeared to be a targeted killing apparently linked with sectarianism, Central SSP Muqaddas Haider said.

He said Imran and his employee belonged to the Deobandi school of thought, but they had no known affiliation with any religious party.

They were killed soon after killing of former TV journalist Aftab Alam in the same area.

The investigators suspected that the same group might have targeted these three men as the same weapon was used, added the Central SSP.

The Ahle Sunnat Waljamaat spokesperson said that Imran and Waqar were their supporters and their killing appeared to be a conspiracy to sabotage peace in the metropolis.

ST worker shot dead

A Sunni Tehreek worker was shot dead in a suspected targeted attack in Shah Faisal Colony on Wednesday evening, police said.

They added that Moha­mmed Qasim, 28, was sitting on footpath in Shah Faisal Colony-5 when armed motorcyclists attacked him. “It appeared to be a targeted killing incident,” Shah Faisal SHO Ejaz Khan said. The victim belonged to the ST Bilal Qadri group, added the officer.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2015

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