KARACHI, Sept 23: An exchange of gunfire between police and suspected bandits near the Lasbela bridge left a passer-by and a suspect dead on Friday, officials said.

They said armed men riding a motorbike snatched cash and valuables from a young man, Mohammad Faisal, in Nazimabad No 7 and sped away. The victim informed a nearby police patrol about the incident.

Nazimabad SHO Inspector Dost Muhammad said the police chased the fleeing bandits and after a few minutes, came close to them near the Lasbela bridge and asked them to surrender. But the armed men fired at the police and a pedestrian was hit in the process, he said. The police returned fire leaving one bandit wounded, he added.

The wounded pedestrian and the suspect were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where they died, he said.

He said the other bandit, later identified as Imran, a resident of Moosa Lane, was arrested. The pedestrian,  Ayub, was a resident of Orangi Town, he said.

He said a motorbike (KEZ–7435) and a TT pistol found in the suspect’s custody were seized. —Staff Reporter