LARKANA: The Larkana police have claimed to have gunned down two suspected dacoits in an alleged encounter near the Naudero Bypass late on Wednesday night.

Naudero SHO Sajjad Bhatti told Dawn on Thursday that the suspects were involved in the killing of trader Santosh Kumar and shopkeeper Sanji Kumar, in Naudero and Larkana city, respectively, last month. They had also injured another trader, Ronak, in Larkana city during a robbery attempt, he added. The killed suspects were identified as Saddam, son of Allahdino Jalbani, and Wajid aka Waju, son of Hakim Ali Jalbani.

“They were most-wanted criminals,” said the Larkana district police spokesman, adding that they were also involved in a host of robbery and extortion cases reported at the Sachal, Haideri and other police stations.

One kalashnikov, two pistols and live bullets, besides a mobile set snatched from Ronak, were seized from them, he said.

He said that many cases against the killed suspects were registered at Qambar-Shahdadkot and Kandhkot-Kashmore districts’ police stations.

He recalled that only a few days back, two members of this gang, Mor Jalbani and Qazi Jagirani, were wounded and arrested in an encounter.

Giving more details, the police said Saddam was wanted in as many as 52 cases registered in Larkana, three in Shikarpur district and some others in Qambar-Shahdadkot district. Wajid was nominated in 25 cases registered at different police stations of Larkana, Shikarpur and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025