MULTAN, Nov 4: Four people, including an alleged dacoit, were killed in a shootout between a cash van crew and dacoits in the precinct of Shujabad Sadar police on Thursday.

Carrying Rs6.5 million in cash of a ginning factory, the van was passing through the Adda Pir Ghaib area when five men in police uniform signalled it to stop. Driver Allah Ditta, however, did not stop the vehicle. At this, the interceptors opened fire which was retaliated by the van guard, Taj Mohammad. In the shootout, one of the bandits and the guard were killed, while the driver sustained serious injuries. He was taken to the Shujabad tehsil headquarters hospital where he died.

The bandit killed in the shootout was wearing the uniform of an assistant sub-inspector.

Later, three of the outlaws fled in a car (LZC-7354). Their fourth accomplice, however, boarded a bus and took its driver and passengers hostage at gunpoint. After covering a substantial distance, he alighted from the bus and shot dead a motorcyclist, Ahmad Bakhsh, in a bid to snatch his two-wheeler.

Multan DPO Sikandar Hayat said the car used by the outlaws in the incident was snatched a couple of days ago from Khangarh, Muzaffargarh district. He said the body of the killed bandit had been shifted to the mortuary of the Nishtar Hospital for identification.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association's former chairman Shaikh Mohammad Saeed has condemned the deteriorating law and order situation in the cotton zone. He said only a couple of days ago, some dacoits had looted Rs7 million from a van carrying cash of a ginning factory in Khanewal.