Two men were gunned down and three others were wounded in a suspected targeted attack in Gulistan-i-Johar on Monday evening, according to police.

Gulshan Superintendent of Police (SP) Ahmed Iqbal Memon told Dawn.com that five persons were shot and injured by unidentified gunmen at Pehlwan Goth, near the Sindh-Balochistan Housing Society.

“The injured were taken to a nearby private hospital, where two of them were pronounced dead,” Memon said, adding that the exact motive was being ascertained.

Meanwhile, a statement from Sharqi police station read that the victims were sitting at a battery shop at the time of the incident.

“Initial information suggests that two motorcyclists came to the shop and opened fire,” the statement read. “There are reports about the presence of a car at the scene but these are being confirmed.”

The statement added that forensic evidence has been collected from the crime scene, including bullet casings.

East Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Farrukh Raza said in a statement that police were receiving “different information” about the possible motives of the incident from the area.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for a religio-political party, Syed Ali Ahmed Zaidi, told Dawn.com that the shooting was a targeted killing, as one of the victims was the son of a prayer leader in the locality.

“One of the deceased … is the son of Maulana Rajab Ali Bangash, who is the prayer leader of a mosque in the area,” Zaidi said. “All of the victims were Ahle Tashi, who originally hailed from Gilgit-Baltistan,” he added.

One of the party’s leaders, Allama Sadiq Jafri, condemned the incident in a statement, saying, “We demand the immediate arrest of the suspects involved in this incident. The increase in target killings puts a question mark on law enforcement agencies.”

He added: “The network of sectarian extremists is becoming active again.”

Earlier this week, a senior lawyer was shot dead while his son was hurt in a suspected targeted attack in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority.

South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com that the firing took place after a funeral prayer at a mosque in DHA Phase 6.

“As advocate Khawaja Shamsul Islam and his son [Khawaja Daniyal, 25] were about to leave the mosque, a lone gunman apparently resorted to firing on them and fled,” the DIG said. “Both father and son were shot and transported to a private hospital in Clifton, where Islam succumbed to his injuries.”