DHAKA, Nov 22: Police in Bangladesh shot dead at least four people and wounded nearly 30 on Thursday while trying to rescue colleagues taken captive by villagers who suspected them of committing a robbery, police said.

They said four police constables on a routine patrol were seized by the villagers at Araihazar, 40 kms from the capital Dhaka, on Wednesday night.

The villagers said the four were trying to commit a robbery, seizing the policemen and their rifles, police said.

Reinforcements rushed in from nearby police stations and rescued the detained constables, but were attacked by villagers armed with spears, knives and sticks.

“Police opened fire in self defence, killing at least two villagers and leaving about 30 wounded,” one officer on the scene said.

Abdur Rahman Khan, a local member of parliament from the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said police attacked the villagers “in retaliation for detaining their colleagues who were helping dacoits (robbers) breaking into a house and looting property”.

Government officials at Araihazar declined to comment.

Witnesses said police and villagers fought a running battle for several hours on Thursday and tension was still running high by late afternoon.

They said several policemen were hurt.

ELEVEN KILLED IN ACCIDENT: At least 11 people were killed and 13 injured when two buses collided on Thursday near Mymensingh town, 190 kms north of the capital, police said.