January 14, 2008	Monday	Muharram 04, 1429

HARIPUR, Jan 13: Local police in a joint raid with the Punjab police gunned down two alleged criminals and got a kidnapped boy released from their custody at Gunga Pind village near Hassanabdal on Saturday night, police said.

The outlaws, reported to be brothers, were wanted to Haripur and Punjab police for their alleged involvement in a number of cases of kidnapping for ransom, murder and robbery.

Kotnajibullah SHO Haji Mursaleen Khan told Dawn that the joint raid by Ghazi and Hassanabdal police was conducted after information that some outlaws, who had allegedly kidnapped a professor from Kotnajibullah, were present in their hideout in Gunga Pind area.

The criminals, who were five to six in numbers, allegedly opened fire on police which was returned.

The gun battle continued for about an hour leaving Khyber Zaman alias Badoo and his brother Babar Zaman dead.

Three other outlaws disappeared taking advantage of the darkness.

The SHO said police found a boy namely Ahsan and seized two AK-47 rifles, pistols, magazines and some bullets from the hideout.

Apart from a number of criminal cases registered with the Punjab police, the outlaws were wanted by the Ghazi police in four cases.

The Kotnajibullah police chased the fleeing accused believing Prof. Sardar Iftikhar, a relative of PML-N candidate for NA-19 Sardar Mushtaq Khan, had been kidnapped by the gang.

The SHO said the servant of abducted college teacher had identified the two criminals as the kidnappers.

He said that the police could not trace the teacher who had presumably been shifted to some other place by outlaws before the raid.