KARACHI, March 5: Maulana Ahmed Madni, a prominent cleric and half-brother of the slain Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan leader Maulana Azam Tariq, was gunned down along with his son in New Karachi Town on Saturday.

Maulana Madni and his son had left their home to meet someone after receiving a call on the Maulana's cell phone.

New Karachi Town SP Karamullah Soomro said three armed men on a motorcycle intercepted their vehicle near Hameed Chowk and opened fire on it.

He said the Maulana received three bullets, including one each on his head and chest, and died on the spot. His son, who was hit by multiple bullets, died while being taken to hospital.

A large number of activists of the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat gathered in the Abbasi Shaheed hospital where the bodies were brought for medico-legal requirements.

The situation in New Karachi turned tense after the shooting. Traders pulled down shutters and traffic disappeared from roads.

Police found multiple casings of spent bullets fired from 9mm pistols—a commonly used weapon in incidents of targeted killings.

Police remained clueless about the motive and people behind the murders.

Leaders of the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, formerly known as the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, however, believed that the assassination of Maulana Madni and his son was part of a series of party workers' killings.

“Dozens of our workers were attacked last year, but the government remained insensitive to the issue,” said Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi of the Jamaat.

He confirmed that Maulana Madni was the stepbrother of Maulana Azam Tariq, killed in Islamabad in 2003.

The deceased was also the administrator of Jamia Mahmoodia, a seminary attached with a mosque in Buffer Zone area of the city. Maulana Madni hailed from Khanewal, Punjab, but was living in Karachi for the past few years.

One of his sons, Abdullah Ahmed, was murdered in July 2005.