QUETTA, Sept 26: A senior official of the Geological Survey of Pakistan was shot dead here on Wednesday in what appeared to be a sectarian attack.

Mohsin Ali Naqvi was gunned down outside his office, senior police officer Mohammed Ayaz said.

“We are investigating the crime but it appears to be a case of sectarian killing. There is a wave of sectarian killings in the country and this is part of that,” he said.

Another police official said two gunmen were waiting for Mr Naqvi, deputy director of the GSP, at the main gate of his office building. They fired at him from close range and escaped.

His family said they had no feud with anybody and Mr Naqvi had been killed because of being a Shia.

Mr Mohsin’s body was handed over to his family and he would be buried in Karachi.

In another incident, two people sitting outside a shop near Burma hotel were shot dead. The victims were identified as Mohammad Karim and Saleh Mohammad.

In Mastung area, gunmen attacked the vehicle of a welfare organisation, injuring social workers Zaniab and Abdur Rashid.