MUZAFFARGARH, Dec 31 People beat two robbers to death after the criminals gunned down a shopkeeper during a robbery in Kalar Wali Town of Jatoi tehsil, some 60 kilometres from here, on Wednesday night.

Police said that alleged robbers Yousuf Hajana, Khadim Borana and their unidentified accomplice held 24-year-old shopkeeper Bilal Ahmad hostage in his shop. Ahmad tried to make a phone call to his relatives when the robbers opened fire at him, killing him at the scene.

People in the neighbourhood came out of their houses when they heard the gunfire. When they learnt that the robbers had shot dead a shopkeeper, they made an announcement through mosque loudspeakers, asking people to come out of their houses and chase the criminals. Finally, they caught Hajana and Borana, but their accomplice fled. The people beat Hajana and Borana and cut their noses, killing them at the scene. They threw their bodies on the road and blocked it.

Jatoi police failed to convince people to clear the road and give the robbers' bodies for a post-mortem examination. After six hours, police dispersed the highly charged people by force and sent the bodies for an autopsy to Shehr Sultan rural health centre. — Correspondent