MULTAN, Feb 4: Two persons, one of them a police constable, were reportedly killed in an encounter between police and a robbers’ gang in Bangla Iccha police station precincts in Rajanpur district.

Information gleaned by this correspondent revealed that a Rahim Yar Khan police contingent reached Chak Danwani of Bangla Iccha on Tuesday morning to arrest notorious ‘Sikhani’ gang.

The gang used to drive away with vehicles and rob travellers on highways in Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan districts. Recently, these gangsters allegedly abducted a woman.

The police raided hideouts of the outlaws, who opened fire on the raiders and fled. Constables Riaz and Ishtiaq were injured in the shootout and were taken to the Rahim Yar Khan’s Sheikh Zayed Hospital, where the condition of the former was stated to be critical.

When the outlaws left the area, the raiding team reportedly demolished their hideouts and then decided to return. However, an armour personnel carrier of the law enforcers stuck in the marshy soil of the kutcha area on the Indus river’s left bank.

Reports added when the policemen were pulling out the carrier, the outlaws attacked them and opened fire, killing constable Liaquat Ali of Rahim Yar Khan Saddar police station. Five other constables, Safdar, Shaukat, Afzal, Sharif and Sadiq, were injured and hospitalized. Doctors said they were out of danger.

It was learnt that the outlaws also succeeded to hold up five other police officials, including ASI Muhammad Ramzan of Bangla Iccha. They also snatched arms from the law enforcers.

It was a matter of minutes when the police returned fire and set free the officials, besides injuring three of the outlaws.

A source in the kutcha area told Dawn that one of the injured outlaws died while the condition of the other was stated to be critical.

The source said a woman and a child were also injured in the crossfire. When contacted at 9pm, it added that there had been a break in the shootout for the last few hours.

But sources in Rahim Yar Khan police disclosed that the Elite Force and the Punjab constabulary contingents had been called for another midnight raid on the outlaws’ kutcha area.

Rahim Yar Khan DPO Sarmad Saeed Khan and the Bahawalpur range DIG were in Lahore to attend a meeting called by the provincial police chief. However, the DPO had to return to his district in the wake of encounter. Local resident Shahryar Khan Mazari told Dawn that he had informed Rajanpur DPO Mian Akhtar three months ago about the gang’s activities in the locality, but he expressed his inability to take action here.

The Rajanpur DPO, who was in Shahwali to plan secure release of three police officials allegedly kidnapped by Bugti tribesmen on January 26 from the Indus Highway, was not available for comments.

APP adds two outlaws and a constable were killed while five other constables were injured in the encounter.