Two gangsters were shot dead on Friday and three others arrested in a shootout in Bathinda district in Punjab, police said.
Gangsters Manpreet Manna and Prabhdeep were killed in retaliatory firing by police after a group of five gangsters travelling in two sport utility vehicles fired at police near Gulabgarh village in the district, around 230 km from here, in south-west Punjab.
Bathinda Zone Inspector General of Police M.S. Chhina told the media that a 9mm pistol, a .32-bore pistol, and a .315-bore pistol were seized from the gangsters.
Three gangsters -- Amritpal, Gurvinder Singh alias Ginda and Harwinder Singh alias Binda -- were arrested. A seriously injured Amritpal was rushed to a Bathinda hospital.
The criminals belonged to the gang of absconding Vicky Gounder, the mastermind of the Nabha jailbreak last year.
The Punjab Police was on the trail of the gangsters after they drove away with a Toyota Fortuner SUV of a businessman at gunpoint near Bucho town on Friday morning. Two of the gangsters were travelling in the stolen vehicle while three others were in a Scorpio.
Over 50 gangs of criminals are active in Punjab for the past decade, police says. Some criminals lodged in state prisons continue to operate from behind bars.
--IANS
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