KARACHI, Oct 20: In what appears to be the deadliest police encounter in recent weeks, four armed bandits, one of them carrying half a million rupees bounty, were gunned down in an exchange of fire with police in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Saturday, officials said.

Two of the six gang members, however, managed to escape before the police trapped and shot dead their four accomplices in Block 4, the officials added.

They said the six men stormed into the residence of a lady doctor,  Fatima Hasan, who owned a private hospital in the town, after one of the robbers wearing burqa somehow managed to convince the family to open the door.

“After stepping into her residence, they held the family at gunpoint and locked them in a room, while two of the bandits went out to give security cover to their accomplices,” said Gulshan-i-Iqbal SHO Inspector Rana Haseeb.

In the meantime, he said, a neighbour noticing suspicious movement outside the doctor’s home informed the police helpline 15 about it.

A van of the area police station with four policemen rushed to the crime scene.

Seeing the police van arriving, the two bandits standing outside the home ran away, the officer said, adding that the officials weighed the situation and called in more force.

The street was then cordoned off.

“However, the bandits in the home were unaware of our movement. Finding a heavy contingent of police as they came out, they opened indiscriminate fire and an exchange of fire ensued,” said the SHO.

He said the guns fell silent only after the four bandits fell down sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. While they were being shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, they died one after another, the police said.

“The police recovered three pistols, four sets of gold jewellery, several gold necklaces and bangles, costly wrist watches, cellular phones and cash,” the SHO said.

They were identified as Shaukat Lashari, Mohammad Abbas, Dildar Hussain and Fayyaz Zia,” said another official at the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police station.

Shaukat Lashari was wanted by the police in around 60 cases of armed robberies, murder, kidnapping for ransom, murder and police encounters in different cities of Sindh.

The Sindh government had announced a reward of Rs500,000 for his arrest, the official added.

“Shaukat Lashari originally hailed from Naushahro Feroze. Initial findings suggest that he was actively involved in robberies mainly on the Superhighway these days,” said Inspector Haseeb.

“The police have registered an FIR (793/2012) under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on behalf of the state against the four men and their two accomplices who fled.”