FAISALABAD, Oct 21: Police on Tuesday claimed to have killed four suspected criminals in a shootout in the Green Town area in Sargodha Road police precincts.On a tip-off that some criminals were hiding in a house of Mehr Block, a team raided the house and told the besieged inmates to surrender, but they opened fire. The police retaliated and four criminals, three of them later identified as Shoaib, alias Shebi, Abbas Oada and Kaka Esai, were killed in the ensuing shootout. However, no policeman was killed or injured in the hour-long shootout.

Talking to Dawn, City Police Officer DIG Mohammad Aslam Tareen said the criminals were wanted by police in murder of two constables, Nawaz and Ubaidullah, in the Balochni area on Oct 16.

The police also seized a car bearing number plate of an MNA and unlicensed arms from the house the culprits had hired on rent.