KARACHI, Nov 30 A young man was shot dead on Tuesday outside a religious seminary in North Karachi in third such killing carried out apparently on sectarian grounds in as many days, police investigators said.

Twenty-four-year-old Mudassir Alam, son of Faisal, was attacked by two armed men riding a motorbike as he came out of the Madressah Rozat-ul-Uloom, attached with Madni Masjid in Sector 11-C, where he used to teach the Quran to local children.

“As a matter of course, the victim offered Quranic education to seminary students after Zuhar prayers and came out of the Madressah,” said DSP Altaf Hussain, the area's supervisory police officer. As he walked up to his motorbike, two motorcyclists intercepted him and one of them fired multiple shots at him, the police officer added. Mudassir sustained at least three bullet wounds — each in the chest, abdomen and shoulder — and fell down before the attacker escaped, the DSP said.

He said that the people present inside the seminary rushed to the spot and shifted the victim to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where he died during treatment.

Police investigators found several spent bullet casings from the crime-scene that showed a 9mm pistol was used in the attack. They also questioned a few witnesses who claimed to have seen the two attackers clad in trousers and shirts.

“The victim was unmarried and resided just a couple of streets away from the mosque,” DSP Hussain said.

Initial findings strengthened police suspicions that it was a sectarian killing carried out on a third consecutive day in the city. DIG West Sultan Khawaja said the police had reason to suspect that the killing was carried out for sectarian reasons.

“The facts that we have initially gathered suggest that the victim was associated with Jaish-i-Muhammad,” he said. Banned by the government several years ago, Jaish-i-Muhammad is described as a militant outfit that is said to have a record of terrorist activities across the border.

So far, sectarian motive was the only reason police saw behind the killing, Mr Khawaja said, adding that further investigation would lead to more facts about the victim's past.

On Monday, the founding president of Pasban-i-'Aza, Syed Liaquat Hussain Nayyar Zaidi, was killed while he was waiting in his car at the Chanesar Halt level crossing within the remit of the Ferozabad police station.

Only a day back, a 22-year-old activist of the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) Abdul Rahman Bandhani was gunned down near Liaquatabad. The ASWJ — formerly known as Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and banned by the government several years ago — claimed to have lost three workers to targeted killings in November.

As Muharram approaches, law enforcers see the level of threat as higher than other months. A statement issued by the central police office after the Sindh police chief's meeting with religious scholars showed serious concerns over security during the month of mourning. “A few places have been identified where hatred and disputed issues are raised to provoke the people following other sect,” said the statement citing concerns of the religious scholars led by Allama Abbas Kumaili of the Jafria Alliance of Pakistan. “The meeting urged immediate action on such concerns before it's too late and the Sindh IG appealed to the scholars of all sects for their support to maintain peace and sectarian harmony during Muharram.”