ISLAMABAD, June 5: Old enmity claimed three lives and left four others injured in the capital’s rural area on Wednesday.

Police said Gulzeb, 50, a goldsmith, his three sons and three guards were going to Bhara Kahu on a sports utility vehicle (SUV) when a white Corolla intercepted them and blocked the way of the vehicle on a bridge.

Since the bridge was narrow, the driver of the SUV could not reverse the car.

In the meantime, four to five armed men got off the Corolla and opened fire on the SUV from all sides, critically injuring the vehicle’s occupants. Assuming all were dead, the attackers sped away from the scene.

Later the villagers and police reached the spot and shifted the victims to the hospital where Gulzeb, and his two guards – Mohammad Tufail and Mushtaq – succumbed to their injuries.

Gulzeb’s three sons and another guard were operated upon and remain under observation in the hospital.

According to the police, the injured are in critical condition.

A police team later visited the spot and collected over 150 bullet shells.

The bodies have been handed over to their families for burial.

The family of Gulzeb told the police that they would lodge a formal complaint after the burial.

Police said Zeb’s family had a longstanding dispute with their rivals.

A number of people from both sides had lost their lives in the decades-old rivalry.

Gulzeb and his four sons, including the three injured, had been nominated in murder cases and convicted. However, they managed to get freedom after reaching a compromise with their rivals.

One of Gulzeb’s sons, who was awarded life sentence and later released after the compromise, had died earlier of natural causes, police added.