KARACHI: Two shopkeepers, said to be associated with the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), were gunned down in a suspected targeted attack on sectarian grounds on Abul Hassan Ispahani Road in Gulshan-i-Iqbal in the wee hours of Tuesday, police said.

Mobina Town SHO Abdul Sattar Magsi said that four assailants arrived at the Al-Khair milk shop in Scouts Colony on two motorbikes, opened indiscriminate fire on the people sitting there and sped away without attempting to loot anything from them.

Five persons suffered bullet wounds in the attack. They were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where two of them, 40-year-old Abdul Bari and 30-year-old Mohammed Ayub, were declared dead by doctors.

The three wounded persons — Waseem, 40, Farhan Ali, 35, and Attaullah, 58 — were admitted for treatment.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that Ayub was referred from the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to the JPMC, where he died during treatment. He had suffered a bullet wound in the head.

She said some people arrived at the hospital and did not allow doctors to conduct an internal examination of the body of Abdul Bari, who had also sustained a bullet wound in the head.

The area SHO said that it was a targeted attack probably on sectarian grounds as the victims were said to be supporters of a sectarian group.

However, DIG-East Azfar Mahesar said that the exact motive of the double murder case was being looked into.

“No clear motive has come up, but we are certain that it was not a dacoity or mugging incident” the DIG said, adding that their relatives appeared reluctant to lodge even an FIR.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the ASWJ said in a statement that deceased Abdul Bari, who was the owner of the shop, and Ayub were their supporters in Scouts Colony.

Their funeral prayers were held at Jamia Arabia Islamia in the same area.

The spokesperson said that during the last two months, two leaders, three workers and five supporters of the party had been shot dead in targeted attacks across Karachi.

He said that the caretaker government and law enforcers failed to curb crimes.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2024