JHANG/CHINIOT, Sept 29: Two ‘terrorists’ described by police as members of the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, were killed in a shootout on the Jhang-Chiniot Road on Sunday morning.

One of the dead carried one million rupee headmoney. They were identified as Iqbal alias Bala of Rajana police station (Jhang) and Irfan s/o Haji Mohammad Ashraf of Jhang Saddar.

Both the men were wanted by police in several cases of sectarian killings.

Jhang district police officer Tariq Masood Yasin told newsmen in Jhang the wanted men killed themselves after an 18-hour shootout.

He said police intelligence were keeping an eye on the movement of Iqbal alias Bala. The police received a secret information on Saturday that Bala was proceeding towards Chiniot in a car along with two companions.

The information was conveyed to Bhawana police station and Jamiabad police post to stop the wanted men as a police party from Jhang was already on its way in their pursuit.

The wanted men were stopped by the police at the Jamiabad checkpoint by dropping the barrier on the road. The terrorists abandoned the car and tried to take refuge in a nearby sugarcane field.

The DPO said Iqbal was grabbed by police wireless operator Mubarak Ali. His accomplice Irfan fired at the wireless operator which hit Iqbal in the leg. Mubarak was hit by another bullet after which he set Iqbal free. The terrorists took refuge in the sugarcane field and started firing on the police.

In the meantime heavy police contingents led by DPO Jhang, SP investigation, SP headquarters and ASP Chiniot, reached the scene and an encounter started.

When the resistance subsided in the early hours, a police party entered the field and found the dead bodies of Iqbal and Irfan lying in different parts of the field.

Both of them were hit in the head from a close range. “They presumably killed themselves to avoid their arrest,” was the DPO version.

Their third accomplice, whose identity could not be ascertained, however, managed to escape in the cover of darkness.

The police recovered four Kalashnikovs, three hand-grenades, three pistols, 350 rounds of Kalashnikovs and 150 pistol bullets and a most modern wireless set from the car abandoned by the wanted men.

Iqbal was described as the top hitman of Lashkar and the central figure in the Bahawalpur church massacre, bomb blast in Bhakkar Majlis-i-Aza and killings of Siddiq Kanju, inspector Jamil of Jhang and Ziaul Hasan Shah of Vehari.

“He received training from Afghanistan and had on his hitlist such personalities as Abida Hussain, Amanullah Sial, Sanaul Haq Tirmizi and Sardarzada Zafar Abbas Shah,” the DPO said.