Two policemen were martyred and four injured after “dacoits” opened fire on under-construction checkposts in the kutcha area of Ghailpur near Sindh’s Kashmore district on Saturday, police said.

According to Kashmore-Kandhkot Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Irfan Ali Sammo, new police checkposts were being set up in the area when “dacoits suddenly opened fire at police”.

He told Dawn.com that as a result, police officials Sabir Ali and Ahad Ali Domki embraced martyrdom while four others, including Bakhshapur Station House Officer (SHO) Gul Muhammad Mehr, were injured.

The injured were taken to a hospital in Rahim Yar Khan while the martyred officials’ bodies were shifted to Civil Hospital Kashmore, the SSP added.

He further said that following the incident, a large police contingent of police from the entire district was dispatched to the kutcha area, where an exchange of fire between police and dacoits was under way.

In a similar incident on April 3, outlaws had attacked a large police contingent that was conducting an operation in the Durrani-Mahar riverine area of Kandhkot district to free hostages.

An SHO was martyred and five others were injured in the incident.