KARACHI, Dec 7: A young woman was shot dead allegedly by bandits in Pak Colony in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.

The police added that 23-year-old Shazia along with her husband, Owais Khan Niazi, was returning home in their car bearing registration number ARX-136 after attending a wedding ceremony in a Kharadar locality.

“As the car reached near Chaman Cinema in the Pak Colony area, two men riding a motorbike signalled the victim’s husband who was driving the car to stop the vehicle,” said Pak Colony SHO Sub-Inspector Rao Farman, while quoting Mr Niazi. The official said the victim’s husband claimed that he sensed danger and preferred to accelerate the car. But the motorcyclists chased and opened fire on the car.

One of the bullets fired hit Shazia in her neck forcing her husband to stop the car, the SHO said. He added, “According to the victim’s husband, seeing the woman in a pool of blood, the motorcyclists escaped without taking away any cash or other valuables from the couple.”

The official said that the wounded woman was shifted to a nearby private hospital, where she died during treatment. The body was later moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Father of a two-month-old son, Owais is associated with the transport business. The couple resided in Mianwali Colony of the Manghopir area, the police said, adding that Shazia married him only a year ago.

An FIR (624/2010) was lodged with the Pak Colony police station on the complaint of a relative of the victim’s husband, Mohammad Sarwar, under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Man gunned down

A young man was shot dead while he was getting off a rickshaw in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Tuesday. Police said that 29-year-old Raja Beckers was targeted by two men on a motorbike near Jauhar Mor. “He sustained four bullet wounds and died on the spot,” said an official at the Sharea Faisal police station.

“The victim was a resident of an apartment in Malir Cantt and had come to see a friend in a flat in Guistan-i-Jauhar,” the official said.

He added that initial talks with the victim’s family showed that the incident was motivated by personal enmity. The victim had been under threat for the last few weeks.

Youngster shot dead

Another youngster was gunned down in a Bin Qasim area along the River Malir on Tuesday. Police said that 24-year-old Khuda Bukhsh was fired a single shot in the head by two men on a motorbike. “The incident occurred near Yousuf Goth,” said Shah Latif SHO Sub-Inspector Abdul Sattar. “A few witnesses said that the victim was riding pillion on the same bike along with the two men who got him off at a spot along the river and fired a single shot from a very close range,” the police official said.

He said initial investigation showed that the suspects had picked up the victim from near his residence in Kui Goth and shot him dead a couple of kilometres away. The incident seemed as the result of personal enmity, he added.