KHAIRPUR, May 28: A man, his two sons and two close relatives were among six persons gunned down in an attack in Fateh Ali Lashari village, about 25 kilometres from here, on Tuesday.

Officials at the Kotdiji police station quoting residents of the village said that at least 10 armed men raided the village and targeted the victims working in their mango farm at around 11am.

The invaders opened an indiscriminate fire on them, killing all the six persons on the spot, the villagers said.

The victims were identified as Laung Lashari, 50, his sons Barkat, 22, and Mukhtiar, 30, nephew Gulab, 40, and another close relative, Ismail, 34. A sixth man who received fatal bullet wounds in the attack was identified as Ahsan Shaikh, a resident of Rohri who had been staying in Kumb town for some time and was on a visit to the farm on the fateful day.

According to sources, two persons, Waseem and Nadeem, also received bullet injuries and were stated to be brothers of the deceased victim, Gulab Lashari.

The sources said that the attackers fled without facing any resistance.

The killing spread a great deal of panic, fear and harassment in the village and its surrounding areas.

A large number of people gathered in the village before police could arrive and remove the victims to the Khairpur Civil Hospital.

A strong contingent of police personnel drawn from various police stations rushed to the scene and cordoned off the entire area to arrest the culprits.

Khairpur SSP Umar Salamat supervised the operation and the process to transport the victims to the civil hospital.

Sukkur DIG Sultan Khwaja also visited the crime scene and issued necessary instructions to the police force.

The Kotdiji police escorted relatives of the attack victims to the civil hospital where post-mortem examinations of the deceased Lasharis were conducted and the bodies were handed over to the heirs.

The injured victims, Waseem and Nadeem, are admitted to the same hospital for treatment.

Initial reports suggested that the motive for the deadly attack was some matrimonial affair.

The police force was continuing a search operation in the area around the village when last reports came late in the evening.