PESHAWAR, Sept 7: Nine persons, including six wanted outlaws, have been arrested in the Regi area on Monday after a four-hour encounter, says a police officer. No one was hurt in crossfire, he added.

SSP (operations) Abid Ali was speaking at a press conference here at the police headquarters. He said that the six wanted men belonged to the Shamim group notorious for heinous crimes, adding that 80 police personnel assisted by three armoured personal carriers took part in an early morning raid on the house of a retired subedar, Imdad, in the Regi area.

The police, he said, were tipped off about the presence of members of the Shamim group, adding that most of them belonged to the Matani area but they were provided safe haven by one Kifayat, who was also wanted to police in an attempted murder case.

He said that village elders had intervened and convinced the criminals to surrender. The arrested were identified as Sabir, brother of Shamim and his nephew Amjad; Inayat, brother of Kifayat; retired subedar Imdad and his two sons.