On a tip-off that two gangsters were likely to come to S S Rao Road at Parel, Assistant Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar of the Nagpada police station and his team laid a trap opposite Mahatma Gandhi Hospital at Parel.

At around 11.15 am, the duo was spotted riding a bike. When asked to surrender they whipped out their weapons and fired at the police, who returned fire. The fatally injured gangsters were rushed to King Edward Memorial Hospital at Parel where they were declared dead before admission.

The police identified the duo as Syed Zahoor alias Zahoor Makanda and Firoze Kasam Mansoori. Makanda was allegedly involved in four murder cases besides his involvement in the escape of gangster Feroze Konkani.

Since the escape of Konkani on May 9 last year, theMumbai police had launched a manhunt for Makanda, who had gone underground and successfully evaded the police. However, the police could not provide details about Mansoori's criminal records.

After the police named him in their second list of top-ten wanted gangsters, a scared Makanda wanted to surrender to the police, claimed a friend of Makanda. Though Makanda was known to be in touch with Chhota Shakeel, he was also a police informant and was supposed to be close to some of the senior police officers in the city.

The police have recovered two revolvers, five live and four empty cartridges from the gangsters' bodies.