KHAIRPUR, Sept 27: Tando Masti police claimed to have killed a criminal in an ‘encounter’ here in Dandho Jatoi taluka Kingri here on Saturday morning.

According to the sources, heavy contingents of police besieged the village Dandho Jatoi in the small hours.

The police said that after an exchange of fire one person identified as Raja Jatoi was injured. Police took the injured into its custody and sent him to the Civil Hospital, Khairpur but he succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

The police also held father of the deceased, Mashooq Jatoi, brother Asad Jatou and some other villagers.

The area police claimed that the deceased had a criminal background. Rejecting the reports about the besiegement of the village, the police claimed that the encounter took place outside the village where the ‘suspect’ was hiding.

When the body of the deceased was handed over to the relatives after legal formalities, more than 100 villagers carrying the coffin staged a demonstration on National Highway near Shah Hussain Chowk for about three hours against the killing and arrest of innocent villagers.

The protesters set fire to tyres suspending vehicular traffic on the highway. The Motorway Police had to divert the traffic towards old National Highway from Therhi and Ranipur via Khairpur.