DERA GHAZI KHAN/RAJAPUR, Feb 17: Two policemen and two prisoners were shot dead and one under-trial prisoner fled when a police van carrying five prisoners from Rajanpur to Dera Ghazi Kahn was ambushed on Saturday.

The van was carrying prisoners Munir Jitani, Nabahu, Allah Bakhsh, Abdul Majeed and Allah Ditta to the Dera Ghazi Khan Jail after their appearance in the district courts in Rajanpur.

When the vehicle reached the under-construction Tatarwala bridge near Jampur, five people allegedly opened indiscriminate fire on the van, killing Constables Mukhtar Hussain and Habib Wahucha and prisoners Allah Bukhsh and Nabahu, and injuring policemen Saleem and Habibur Rehman.

The attackers held hostage driver Irshad and drove the vehicle towards Kotla Dewan. They left the van and the driver in Patti Gadi Mauza and fled with Munir Jitani when police chased them.

An official said Jitani was member of a notorious gang, which was suspected to have carried out the attack.