KARACHI, June 11: Former speaker of the Sindh assembly Abdul Raziq Khan and his driver were shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists near the city courts in the Mithadar area on Wednesday.

The attack took place when Mr Khan, who was vice-president of the PML(Q)’s Sindh chapter, was on his way home from the city courts premises.

Eyewitnesses said some motorcyclists drove up to his car and riddled it with bullets. Mr Khan died on the spot while his driver, Mehmood Alam, sustained injuries. He died afterwards in the Civil Hospital.

Mr Khan previously belonged to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and had recently joined the PML(Q).

The attack took place at around 3:20pm, according to the witnesses. Raziq Khan, a lawyer, left the city courts for his home in his Toyota car (E-6641). Mehmood Alam was driving the car and Mr Khan was sitting in the front seat beside him.

As the car came onto the Altaf Hussain Road, heading towards I.I. Chundrigar Road, the motorcyclists intercepted it, sprayed it with bullets and sped away.

An eyewitness said that four men on two motorcycles attacked the car and opened indiscriminate fire on it. Another eyewitness claimed there were two men on one motorbike, who targeted the car. The assailants were wearing jeans, shirts and helmets, witnesses said.

Before the police and an ambulance arrived on the scene, a crowd had gathered there and one person drove the victims’ car to the Civil Hospital, where doctors pronounced Raziq Khan dead. His driver, Mehmood Alam, 45, had suffered three bullet wounds and was shifted to the operation theatre, where he underwent a surgery but could not survive.

Doctors in the hospital said Mr Khan had suffered 10 bullet wounds, all in the neck and chest.

The city police chief and other officials reached the hospital and also inspected the scene of the incident. Nearby shops were closed and traffic remained suspended for half an hour.

DIG Karachi Operations Tariq Jamil told Dawn that the information collected suggested that there were two men on one motorcycle. “We have found eight empties at the spot, and we believe the weapon used in the incident was a Kalashnikov rifle”, he added.

An investigation team was formed to investigate the killing.

The funeral prayers for Raziq Khan were offered at a mosque near his residence in the KDA Officers Society, and he was buried in the graveyard near the Milk Plant in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.