SUKKUR, July 1: Two villagers were killed when police and a gang of kidnappers exchanged fire during a hold-up in village Trighati of Rohri taluka in this district early on Monday.

The police moved swiftly to challenge the outlaws when a man, Sohrab Mangrio, approached them for help saying that he and his friend, Rajjo Mal, were kidnapped by the 10-member gang while they were returning to Rohri from Sanghar on their bike late Sunday.

Mangrio told the police that he was severely beaten up by the gangsters before being released only to deliver a message, containing ransom demand, to the relatives of Rajjo Mal.

The police rushed to the site and chased the kidnappers into the thick forest. However, the gangsters finally took shelter in a house in the Trighati village and held the inmates hostage.

The police, using a megaphone, ordered the outlaws to surrender and warning them that the house had been surrounded.

The kidnappers, however, started shooting from inside the house and warned the police against blocking their escape route. This prompted the police to return the fire.

The police said that two villagers, Mumtaz Ali (30), son of Mohammed Hassan Bhutto, and Ghulam Qadir (50), son of Khamiso Khan, were caught in the cross-firing and died. Another two villagers, who could not be identified immediately, were injured, they said.

During the encounter, the police added, two of the kidnappers tried to flee the house but were shot and injured. After their surrender, they identified themselves as Hubdar Ali Katpar and Anwer Ali.

After a whole day of hold-up, the DPO of Sukkur, Din Mohammad Baloch, who led the operation, told Dawn from Salehpat town that the remaining kidnappers had made their escape good.

He claimed that the kidnappers caused no harm to the inmates of the house and released the hostages before fleeing into the thick woods.

Mr Baloch said that reinforcement had been rushed to cordon off the forest area.