Monir Hossain, 25, Jakir Hossain, 27, and Ramjan, 25, died in Lalmatia, while Plabon Hossain, 17, son of Iskandar Ali Mollah of Shewrapara, and Nazrul Islam, 17, were killed at Kazipara.

Relatives identified the three alleged robbers killed in Lalmatia at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) morgue last night.

Monir, a resident of Dhupkhola in Sutrapur, used to supply bread and banana to a hospital in Nayabazar, his sister Sumi Akhter told reporters. Sutrapur policethe DMCH.

admitted he had no criminal records.

"Locals also gave a clean cheat to Monir for having no criminal links," Sutrapur Sub-inspector Nasir Uddin told The Daily Star last night.

Jakir, a friend of Ramjan, was a CD seller at stadium market in the capital, his wife Baby Begum said.

The relatives rejected any links between robbers and the victims. They said Monir and Jakir went out of their houses on Tuesday morning but could not say how they went to Lalmatia.

Plabon's brother Miraj Hossain Babu identified the other two at the DMCH morgue.

"Plabon was missing for the last 10 days," he said.

Nazrul, killed in Kazipara, was once a domestic help at a house near their residence and later became a goon, he said.

Meantime, Abul Hashem Howladar, caretaker of an NGO Village Development Centre (VDC), at whose house three alleged robbers had knocked at the door on Tuesday night, filed a robbery attempt case with Mohammadpur Police Station the same night.

VDC, owned by Shafiqul Islam of Brahmanbaria, runs a guesthouse at the house at E Block in Lalmatia. It has 30 beds in five rooms and accommodates around 300 guests from different NGOs during their visit to the capital, Howladar told The Daily Star yesterday.

In the FIR (first information report), Howladar said five to seven armed robbers attempted to rob the house at around 8:00pm. Out of fear, he closed the doors and cried out for help.

Hearing his cry, locals and pedestrians also shouted for help and a patrol team of Mohammadpur police rushed to the spot.

On information, additional forces turned up and the three were killed in an encounter with them, police said.

But Howladar yesterday told The Daily Star six youths rang the doorbell at the house and looked for him. "Two of them claimed to have come from Social Service Centre and entered the house. Later, one of them asked me to go out to see their boss. As I was going out, the two ran upstairs."

Abdul Jalil, owner of the house, said he saw two youths pushing Howladar on the third floor of the four-storey building. They ran to the roof and broke the roof door. "I heard shouts from an adjacent house that there was a robber.

"Police had instructed us over microphones to stay home as there are robbers in the adjacent house," he said.

Police said they handcuffed the youths after they were shot and nabbed before taking them to the DMCH.