They added that the suspects were caught by a swelling crowd after they had just robbed a shop and shot at and wounded its owners. A third bandit and a trader survived with wounds received in a shootout.

They said some half a dozen gunmen stormed into the shop of Mohammad Riaz in Mianwali Colony within the remit of the Pirabad police station, held him at gunpoint and collected cash and other valuables. Though the police claimed the shootout was a “joint public-police action”, witnesses said the law enforcers reached the spot only to retrieve the badly injured bandits.

“After executing their job, as the bandits were about to ride off on the three motorbikes parked outside the shop, Riaz pulled out his licensed pistol and fired multiple shots at them,” said an area resident, who witnessed the almost 15-minute episode, wishing not to be named.

“The attack left two of the bandits wounded and triggered firing by their aides, who remained unhurt. Riaz was hit in the abdomen in the exchange of fire.”

The gunfire attracted people in the densely populated area and within seconds hundreds of them had gathered at the site, he said. After realising the reason behind the firing and finding the shopkeeper badly wounded in the bandits’ firing, the angry mob overpowered the three armed men while the other associates of the suspects escaped on the two motorbikes.

“Among them were the two injured bandits and one of their aides. The charged people thrashed them badly and used stones, bricks and sticks to vent their anger,” said the resident, adding that it was too late when a police van on patrol reached the spot. A Rangers vehicle also joined the police force a few minutes later and dispersed the crowd.

All the three injured bandits and the wounded shopkeeper were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where two dacoits, who had sustained bullet wounds, died during treatment.

A Pirabad police station official confirmed that the trader had fired at the suspects, but said the investigators found the pistol used by him to be a licensed one. The trader kept the 9mm pistol with him for security, he added. The police authorities, meanwhile, claimed to have seized three TT pistols, cellphones, cash and prize bonds from their possession.“We have also seized two motorbikes used by the bandits and abandoned after the incident,” said SP Khurram Waris of Orangi Town. “The police conducted the operation with the assistance of the area people when they received information about the presence of bandits in the area and their being engaged in an exchange of fire with the shopkeeper.”

He said the bandits not only robbed the trader, but also deprived a few passersby of their valuables, including cash and cellphones, before entering his shop. People recognised the dead and the injured bandits, said the Orangi Town SP, adding that efforts were being made for the arrest of their aides who had fled the scene.

“One of the dead bandits has been identified as Imran Hussain, a resident of Mehmoodabad, while the residence of his injured aide, Haroon Aziz, is not yet known. The other dead bandit remains unidentified,” he added.

He said the wounded bandit sustained wounds of stones and bruises when thrashed by people, and the doctors declared him out danger.