KARACHI: Two suspected robbers were killed in an alleged encounter shortly after they shot dead a citizen and wounded two others over resistance in the Manghopir area on Saturday evening, police said.

They added that armed muggers looted passers-by in Hasan Brohi Goth and when some of them put up resistance they shot three people — Abu Hasan, 25, Maula Buz, 60 and Riaz Ahmed, 50, — and rode away.

The police said that Abu Hasan died. The body and wounded were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities and treatment.

The incident sparked anger among area people, who took to the street to lodge a forceful protest against increasing incidents of street crime and lawlessness.

A heavy contingent of police reached the scene. Orangi SP Muhammad Qais Khan said that the law enforcers pacified the protesters and convinced them to end their demonstration.

However, a police spokesperson claimed that the police chased the fleeing suspects, engaged them in a shootout and killed two of them.

“After receiving information, the police conducted an action to arrest the suspects who resorted to firing and in retaliatory firing by police, two suspects were killed and their third accomplice managed to escape,” said the spokesperson.

West-SSP Faisal Bashir Memon said that the deceased were involved in the killing of a man and wounding two others over resistance in Hasan Brohi Goth earlier in the day.

He said that they looted tankers and other vehicles in the same area.

The police claimed to have recovered illicit weapons, spent bullet casings and looted valuables from their custody.

They said that their identification was being made with the help of a biometric device.

The bodies were shifted to the ASH for a post-mortem examination.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2023