Two robbers were killed on Wednesday in what the police called an encounter in Rahim Yar Khan. Police said two of their accomplices fled.
Police said they had traced 12 robberies against those killed in several police station of the district.
Police said four armed men were noticed near Shahbazpur village.
They had deprived a citizen, Amjad Ali of Chak 21-NP, of his motorcycle, cell phone and the cash he was carrying.
Ali was on his way back from a theatre when he was stopped by the robbers.
Ali called the police helpline and reported the incident.
Police caught up with the men near Bahawalpur Road. The robbers shot at the police. The police shot back, hitting two of them. They both died on the spot. The other two fled.
The bodies were sent to Shaikh Zayed Hospital for post-mortem examination.
Ahmadpur Lama Station House Officer Jaam Munir Ahmad said that the deceased robbers belonged to the Chhotu gang.
Busted
Separately, District Police Officer Sohail Habib Tajik said that Bahawalpur Police had busted several criminal gangs over the last two months. He was addressing a press conference at the Samma Satta police station.
The biggest of these was the Shahzad Baloch Gang. This gang, he said, was involved in 24 robberies, including theft of 750 grams of gold jewellery from Khanqah Sharif and Rs2.4 million from Ram Phatak area in Bahawalpur.
The district police officer said two members of this gang had been arrested. He said 80 grams of gold jewellery and a pistol was recovered from them. He said one of them had broken his legs while trying to escape. He was taken to Bahawal Victoria Hospital.
Other gangs busted include the Billi Gang and the Kaali Gang, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2013.