GUJRAT, Dec 1: A trader was shot dead by an unidentified man on Circular Road near Faisal Gate area here on Monday.

Arshad Mahmood, a kite seller, was opening his shop when a motorcycle rider came there and sprayed a volley of bullets on him. He sustained critical bullet wounds and was taken to the local DHQ Hospital where he remained admitted for some hours.

In the meantime, the B-Division police registered a case under section 324 of PPC against an unknown outlaw on the complaint of the injured brother, Nasir. Later, the police turned section 324 into

302 when Arshad died at the hospital.

Sources in police told Dawn on the condition of anonymity that the slain was an activist of the Sunni sect and remained the nominated accused in some cases of sectarianism.

A spokesman of the B-Division police denied that the trader was murdered due to sectarianism, saying that the complainant had not mentioned the element of sectarianism in the FIR. However, he said the motive behind the killing and the unknown killer would soon be traced out.