An influential Pakistani Sunni Muslim cleric was shot dead along with his driver by unidentified attackers in Karachi city, according to media reports.

The suspected targeted attack on Maulana Dr Adil Khan, head of Karachi’s Jamia Farooqia seminary, took place on Saturday, the Dawn News reported, quoting police officials.

Mr Khan was the son of late prominent scholar Maulana Saleemullah Khan, who founded the Jamia Farooqia, a seminary located in Shah Faisal Colony. Jamia Farooqia adheres to the Sunni Muslim teachings of the Deobandi sect.

According to a police statement, as the car carrying Mr Khan stopped near a shopping centre in Shah Faisal Colony to purchase sweets, armed pillion riders opened indiscriminate fire on the car and fled.

Mr Khan was shifted to the Liaquat National Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the Dawn quoted hospital spokesperson Anjum Rizvi as saying.

His driver, Maqsood Ahmed, was also declared dead on arrival at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), the hospital’s executive director Dr Seemin Jamali said.

A third person, Umair, who was also accompanying the scholar survived the incident as he had gone inside the shopping centre to buy sweets, the Geo News reported.

Police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said three men were on the motorcycle. One got off and fired the shots.

“We are gathering statements from eye-witnesses,” he was quoted as saying by The News International.

According to Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in-charge Raja Umar Khitab, the attack is “a conspiracy to incite sectarian violence”, the report said.