FAISALABAD, May 11: Five people, including a woman, were killed while two others sustained serious injuries in an exchange of fire between two rival groups in Chak 580-GB, 42 kilometres from here, on Wednesday night.

Reports said Khan Muhammad and Waryam groups had an armed clash over an old enmity. During the crossfiring, Khan Muhammad and Ashraf of the Khan Group and Zulfiqar Ali, Sahiba Bibi, and Waryam Khan of the Waryam Group died on the spot while Bashiran Bibi and Nazim Ali were injured, They were shifted to hospital in critical condition.

Police claimed that both the groups had a dispute over property and 16 people had fallen victims to the enmity.

DPO Muhammad Amin Wains, when contacted, claimed four people died in the incident. He said the FIR would be registered after the receipt of formal applications from aggrieved parties.

However, the bodies of the deceased were sent to the Allied Hospital for autopsy.

gangs smashed: District Police Officer Muhammad Amin Wains claimed to have smashed 63 gangs and arrested 721 hardened criminals, including 482 proclaimed offenders, during a one-month campaign.

Talking to the press here on Tuesday, he said the police recovered looted valuables, including cars, tractor-trolleys, electronic appliances, gold ornaments and clothes worth Rs35 million.

He claimed that the crime rate registered a decline following the arrest of notorious gangsters. The DPO said during the campaign, six men — Wilayat, Abdul Ghaffar, Muhammad Khadim, Ahmed Ali, Akram and Saif - allegedly involved in over 200 cases were killed in encounters.

He said the local police teams arrested 425 cattle-lifters and recovered 908 cattle-heads from their hideouts. A large quantity of illicit weapons was also recovered from the arrested gangsters and raids were being conducted to arrest their accomplices, he said.

The DPO said the patrolling police squads had been asked to check the suspected vehicles and persons roaming around sensitive installations and commercial markets.

Mr. Wains said strict instructions had also been issued to SHOs to expeditiously redress people’s complaints.