KARACHI, March 2: A suspected bandit who mysteriously went 'missing' shortly after he and his aide were caught red-handed during a robbery attempt on Tuesday night by area people in Malir was found shot dead along with an unidentified person on Wednesday morning, police said.

The police added that some passers-by spotted the bodies of the two youngsters at Dairy Farm — a military farm under the cantonment area neighbouring residential societies of the Malir Town — and informed the police.

On Tuesday night, a middle-aged man was intercepted by two armed robbers riding a motorbike near Khokhrapar No 1 and was gunned down as he resisted the robbery.

The firing attracted area people who caught the armed men red-handed and gave them a hiding before the police arrived.

While the police arrested one of the robbers, they said the other suspect slipped into the crowd.

The mystery over his disappearance deepened when his body was identified the following day by his accomplice in police custody.

“A few objects found lying near the bodies as well as some witness accounts raised doubts,” said DSP Baqar Junejo, the area's supervisory police officer.

“The bodies were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities and the police sought help of the arrested suspect for the identification,” he said, adding that the suspect identified one of the bodies as that of his aide.

DSP Junejo said the two robbers had attempted to snatch cash and cellphone from 45-year-old Samiullah on Tuesday night. The victim offered resistance and a scuffle ensued. The armed men finally shot him dead. However, he said, the gunfire attracted the attention of the area people who somehow managed to overpower the two armed men. The charged mob thrashed them with sticks and stones before a van of the Khokhrapar police station intervened.

The police arrested one of the wounded suspects who was later identified as Shah Meer and shifted the body of the victim, Samiullah, to the JPMC for an autopsy.

The deceased was a resident of Kausar Town in Malir. The police registered a case (FIR 75/2011) under Sections 396 (dacoity with murder) and 34 (with common intention) against Shah Meer and his unidentified suspect.

Surprisingly, the police during the entire episode failed to ascertain the status of Shah Meer's accomplice who had been grabbed by the people though the police said he 'disappeared' during the incident. He was identified as Zahid Lashari by Shah Meer, the police said.

“There was extreme anger among the people who had caught the two suspects,” said Khalid Mustafa Korai, the SP of Malir Town.

“The police team timely reached the crime-scene to save the life of the suspects and formally arrested him. We also convinced people and assured them that all due legal action against the suspects would be taken, but somehow one of the suspects went missing from the scene amid the huge crowd of people who had gathered there after the incident.”

The investigators were not sure about the reasons behind the alleged 'disappearance' of Zahid Lashari despite the fact that he was badly beaten by the mob to vent their anger.

The body found along with Zahid's remained unidentified. “Besides gunshot wounds, there were visible signs of torture on the bodies of both victims, who were wearing shalwar-kameez,” said DSP Junejo, who handled the bodies and supervised the medico-legal formalities. “One of the youngsters sustained seven bullets fired from pointblank range and the other six,” he said.