GUJRAT, Aug 12: The district police on Thursday claimed to have killed a proclaimed offender in an encounter near Dawara Kotla Dheenda village, Jalalpur Jattan.

Police was tipped off about the presence of some POs at a hideout in Dheenda village, a press release issued by the DPO said.

A heavy police contingent led by Jalalpur Sadar SHO Ghulam Sarwar Gondal reached the spot and besieged the area. The police asked the criminals to surrender, but they opened fire on them.

The police also returned the fire. The encounter that continued for around an hour left an outlaw dead while his two accomplices managed to escape. The deceased outlaw was later identified as PO Safdar alias Safdra.

Police recovered a Kalashnikov, two hand grenades and a rocket launcher besides a huge quantity of cartridges from the hideout of POs. PO Safdar and his accomplices had kidnapped and murdered doctor Asghar Ali on Nov 10, 2002.

He and his gang had shot dead three brothers, including Mazhar, Azhar, Shafqat and their cousin Zahid Mubarak about a year ago. He was also wanted by the district police in various other cases of heinous nature.