They also arrested the driver Sanwar Hossain who received three bullets in his abdomen and left leg but failed to nab the others.

Sanwar is now undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital under police guard.

Police said they signalled the driver to stop near Bishwa Road crossing in Badda at about 11:00pm after they received an instruction from the police control room. But the driver did not comply and sped away.

The microbus was intercepted by a team of police at Gulshan Circle 1 but the criminals started firing at the police who returned the fire, said duty officer of Gulshan Police Station.

Police said they arrested the injured driver, but three others managed to run away.

The duty officer said police tried to stop the vehicle after they got a message that the driver filled his microbus with petrol from Uttara filling station but sped away without paying.

Police seized the microbus.