KARACHI: A Pakistan People’s Party activist’s son and grandson were shot dead by assailants riding a motorbike in the Kati Pahari area on Saturday.

The attack, described by the PPP as ‘targeted killing’ was followed by arson attacks that created tension and paralysed the routine life in the whole area, police and party sources said.

They said that 29-year-old owner of a chicken shop Muzammil Khan died instantly when the assailants drove up to his roadside shop near Kati Pahari and opened indiscriminate fire with a pistol in the second half of the day. The shooting also left his 23-year-old nephew, Imran Khan, and a passerby, later identified as Ghayas Rasheed, seriously injured.

“The injured were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries during treatment,” said DSP Tariq Malik, the area sub-divisional police officer (SDPO). “All the three victims were residents of the same area,” he said, adding that about a dozen shots were fired with a 9mm pistol. Some bullets also hit the motorbikes parked near the Hina Chicken Shop, he said.

The DSP said that Muzammil was the eldest son of Miskeen Khan, a local PPP leader and his nephew Imran work with him at the shop. He said that the man who was caught in the firing worked at a printing press and was passing through the area when was hit by a single bullet to the head.

The killings spread a great deal of panic and heightened tension in the Kati Pahari area, which has witnessed recurring incidents of violence and targeted killings in a year or so.

Before the arrival of the police and Rangers to bring the situation under control, shopkeepers and traders pulled down the shutters and vehicular traffic went off the road.

DSP Malik said that a motive or people behind the attack could not be ascertained immediately but the police were collecting facts to reach a conclusion.

Although tension gripped the area soon after the killing of Muzammil Khan, the situation aggravated when the news of the death of the two injured victims reached the area. Groups of angry people took to the street in protest and two motorbikes parked in a locality of the area were set on fire.

Reports received from Kati Pahari late in the evening said that the law-enforcement agencies personnel had taken positions at different places but the life remained paralysed.

Meanwhile, the PPP leadership strongly condemned the attack and said that “the targeted killing is a conspiracy to shatter peace in the city”.

“In less than a week, our three workers have been killed in a similar manner,” Sohail Abidi of PPP said. “At a time, when the party leadership at the federal and province level is making efforts to ensure peace in Karachi and other parts of the country, miscreants are continuing to target its workers just to provoke the party and exploit the situation.”

ST office attacked

An armed clash between two political groups took place near Faizan-i-Aulia Masjid in Lines Area on Saturday.

According to DSP Ghulam Murtaza Malik, the area’s sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), the clash left four people injured.

Earlier, the office of Sunni Tehrik in the locality was set on fire in the morning. Though the police claimed to have brought the situation under control after arson and firing incidents, life remained disturbed in the densely-populated neighbourhood.

The DSP said that the injured victims were identified as Irshad, 28-year-old political activist, Naheed, 48, Nusrat, 42 and Mehran, 32.