KARACHI, Aug 27: Another police constable was shot dead and a friend of his critically wounded on Monday in Lyari in what was described by police as a targeted killing. Asim Shah, 35, posted at the Baghdadi police station on intelligence duty, was the second policeman killed in the current month.

Eyewitnesses said the constable, resident of Umar Apartments in Baghdadi, was passing through Pir Mohammed Baloch Road with his friend Abdul Aziz when assailants riding a motorcycle sprayed them with bullets.

The victims were taken to the Civil Hospital, where Asim was pronounced dead on arrival and his wounded friend was admitted.

Hospital sources said Asim received a fatal bullet in the chest. They said Aziz was in a precarious condition as he had also sustained gunshot wounds in his upper torso.

DIG (South) Javed Ali Shah Bukhari told Dawn that the Dengo Group, an offshoot of the Rehman Dakait gang, was to blame for the attack.

“We are fighting the gangsters and our men are being martyred in the course, but we will continue our efforts to neutralise them,” he said.A police constable and his friend were shot dead on Aug 9 in Lyari in a case of a targeted killing. Waseem Sattar, resident of Nawa Lane, was posted in the Crime Investigation Department.

The entire vicinity of Lyari, particularly Baghdadi, Kalakot and Chakiwara, has been in the grip of tension and fear since the latest spree of violent acts.

The panic and tension intensified in the mafia-infested neighbourhoods following the killing of Majeed Speed and his alleged accomplice on Aug 15 in Kalakot.