BAHAWALPUR, July 28: Six people, including four arrested in the last year local church massacre, were killed in a “shootout” on the Hasilpur Road, police claimed on Sunday.

According to a press release issued by the police department here in the evening, nine policemen, including two inspectors, were also injured in the encounter which took place near Mauza Goth Shah Muhammad, 40km from here, on the Hasilpur Road.

It said that a police party led by Cantonment SHO Rao Jamshed and CIA inspector Khawar Zaman Lodhi was escorting Kashif, Talha, Manzoor and Ahsan Muawia, activists of outlawed Laskar-i-Jhangvi, to Khairpur Tamewali for the recovery of the weapons allegedly used by them in the October 2001 church attack that left 15 worshippers and a policeman dead.

The press release claimed that near Mauza Goth Shah Mohammad, a white coloured car intercepted the police vehicle, with its four occupants opening fire (on police) in a bid to free their accomplices.

“When the assailants tried to escape after freeing those in custody, police opened fire. The shootout continued for an hour and resulted in the killing of four church attackers and their two accomplices,” it said, adding “The rest of the assailants managed to escape on foot.”

Inspectors Jamshed Akhtar and Khawar Zaman, SIs Mujahid Abbas, and Arshad Wariach, and constables Mohammad Ali, Munir Hussain, Tanveer Ahmed, Qamar Nawaz and Saifullah sustained injuries, the press release said. The bodies of the six ‘outlaws’ were brought to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital here. Four of them were handcuffed.

Surprisingly, nine ‘injured’ policemen were ‘admitted’ to the tehsil headquarters hospital, Hasilpur, which is 50km from the place of the shootout.

Three of the dead — Kashif, Talha, and Manzoor — were arrested by the Vehari police recently and Ahsan was already in custody. The Vehari police had handed over the three to the local police two days ago.

The two ‘assailants’ killed in the ‘shootout’ were yet to be identified.