KARACHI, March 14: Six bandits were shot dead in encounters with police in three areas of the city and a man wounded by robbers died in hospital on Tuesday. Police said that a portfolio manager at the Karachi Stock Exchange, Saleem, along with his associate Izhar had drawn Rs250,000 from the Bank Alfalah branch in Khayaban-i-Jami, Clifton. They were intercepted by four people on two motorcycles near the Federation House. When they tried to put up resistance, the bandits opened fire wounding both of them, SDPO Boat Basin Javed Akbar told Dawn.

He said that SHO Boat Basin Arif Razzaq, who was passing nearby, herd shots and rushed towards the spot along with his policemen. Seeing the police, the bandits opened fire. Police returned the fire killing three of the bandits while their fourth accomplice fled.

Subsequently, the wounded Izhar and Saleem were rushed to the hospital, where Izhar died during treatment. Police said that Saleem sustained a bullet wound in his shoulder.

The bandits were later identified as Saeedullah, Moten and Ghulam Rasool with the help of ID cards recovered from their possession. They hailed from Shikarpur, police added.

Police recovered the cash Rs250,000, three pistols and two motorcycles.

Prior to the encounter, the staff of Standard Chartered Bank branch located at the main Khayaban-i-Jami informed the police about presence of a suspicious man in the bank.

SDPO Javed Akbar reached the spot and nabbed the suspect. Following the arrest, policemen in plain clothes were deployed in the vicinity to pick up his accomplice. The surveillance yielded arrest of another suspect near the Pizza Hut.

Though both the suspects were denying that they knew each other, when police called the last dialled number from cellphone of one suspect, cellphone of the other suspect started ringing, SDPO Javed Akbar said.

During initial interrogation, they were identified as Munir and Javed hailing from Sukkur.

Javed Akbar said that the suspects were probably staking out for a robbery, but keen observation by the bank staff foiled their attempt. He said that the SHO Boat Basin was returning to his office after arresting these two suspects when he herd the gunshots and took on the encounter.

It may be recalled here that police had arrested a bandit after a chase from Shireen Jinnah Colony and recovered the snatched amount of Rs200,000 on Monday.

In Gulshan-i-Iqbal, police shot dead a suspected robber and arrested the other.

Police said that two suspects snatched a cellphone from a man and tried to flee. Police spotted the criminals and signalled them to stop. The suspects opened fire at the police and tried to flee. Returning the fire, police shot dead one of the suspects and arrested the other. The body of the suspect was sent to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities.

Police said that the suspects hailed from Quetta.

In Defence, two bandits were shot dead in what the police claimed to be an encounter.

Police said that four bandits broke into the house of Shahab and made the occupants of the house hostage at gunpoint. The police were informed on Madadgar 15, who reached the spot. Seeing the police, bandits opened fire.

During the brief shootout, two alleged bandits were killed on the spot and one of their accomplices was arrested. However, the fourth suspect escaped, police said.