Wanted for murder, 2 Nihangs shot dead

Blurb: Before encounter, accused attack 2 SHOs with swords

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, March 21

Two murder accused Nihangs were on Sunday shot dead in an encounter after the duo attacked policemen with swords at Singhpura village, 35 km from here.

Sub-Inspector Narinder Singh and Inspector Balwinder Singh, both SHOs, were injured.

The accused were identified as Gurdev Singh of Ganda Singh Colony in Amritsar and Mehtab Singh alias Khandewala Baba. They had allegedly murdered Baba Santokh Singh in Nanded.

Tarn Taran SSP Dhruman Nimbale said following a tip-off, a police team raided Dera Bidhi Chand at Sursingh village, but the accused fled. The cops then cornered them on the outskirts of Singhpura village. The Nihangs attacked the police and severely injured both SHOs, he said.

Another team later confronted the accused near a drain. A gunfight ensued, in which the duo was shot dead, the SSP said.

The SHOs were operated upon at a hospital in Amritsar. A case under Section 307, 333, 353, 186 and 34 of the IPC has been registered at Bhikhiwind.