KARACHI, Aug 7: Three suspected bandits were killed in what police claimed to be an encounter, in which no policeman was wounded, near the Northern Bypass on Sunday.

However, the circumstances in which the three suspects had been killed suggested that it was a one-sided affair. None of the three suspects had been identified till late.

Area DSP Iftikhar Lodhi said that a trader, Asghar Ali, was deprived of Rs10,000 and his cellphone by three suspects near Ghulam Husain village at the Northern Bypass. The suspects were in an Alto car (APP-066), he added.

After the robbery, the DSP said, the victim came across the area SHO and informed him about the incident and that the suspects possessed weapons.

He claimed that the police chased the suspects, who sensed danger, abandoned the car and took positions in the bushes and started firing at the police.

“Encircling the suspects in the bushes the police opened fire killing them on the spot,” the DSP said.

The police claimed to have recovered three TT pistols, Rs10,000 and four cellphones from the possession of the suspects.

The bodies were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

The DSP sounded confident that the suspects were also involved in a number of other criminal activities, including kidnapping for ransom.

“We will send their fingerprints to the forensic division,” he said.

ST man shot dead

A young man was killed within the remit of the New Karachi Industrial Area police station on Sunday, police said.

They said that 34-year-old Shoaib Siraj was working at a construction site in Sector 11-G where unknown persons opened fire at him and fled.

The victim was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi where he was pronounced dead.

The police said that the victim was an activist of Sunni Tehreek.