KARACHI, Nov 10 Three men were killed and another was wounded in separate incidents of firing in Lyari on Wednesday that police saw as the result of an alleged rift within one of the criminal gangs operating in the neighbourhood, officials said.

In the first incident, two young men were found shot dead near the post office close to Baloch Chowk. They were hit by two bullets each fired from a very close range.

“The bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities where they were identified as 25-year-old Jamil Ghani and his 27-year-old friend, Zakir Baloch,” said an official at the Kalakot police station.

“The victims were the residents of Eidu Lane and Singho Lane, respectively, and had been missing since Tuesday night.”

While the police had not found criminal record of the two victims till filing of this report, they said that the deceased were said to be associated with a gang allegedly led by Baba Ladla and the killings were a result of a recent dispute within the group over some monetary issue.

A few hours later a young man was targeted in Afshani Gali of Lyari. The police said that armed men opened fire on Fahad, killing him on the spot, and wounding a passerby, Shabbir. The body and the victim who had suffered a single gunshot wound were shifted to the CHK.

The situation remained tense in Lyari during the remaining part of the day, with gunfire forcing people to stay indoors and closure of business in a few localities of the densely populated neighbourhood.

The police saw the fresh incidents as a reaction to the formation of a group within an alleged criminal gang.

“We have credible reports that some members of the Baba Ladla group started operating on their own,” said SP Rana Pervez of Lyari Town.

“The development led to the rift within the gang and today's killings seemed the result of the same dispute. Police patrol in the affected areas of the town has been enhanced and most parts of the neighbourhood returned to normality by the evening.”