SUKKUR: A gang of dacoits opened an indiscriminate fire on an approaching police mobile van killing one policeman and wounding two others near the Chimni area of Kadhkot-Kashmore district on Thursday.

According to the B-Section police, the mobile van was sent to the area on a tipoff about presence of gangsters there.

Upon noticing that the police were approaching, the gangsters who were present at the specified place along Indus Highway, opened fire on their vehicle.

They said that three policemen, Mahmood Lashari, Allah Dittu Chandio and Mohammad Sha`aban Malhan, suffered serious wounds in the firing and were rushed to the Kandhkot Civil Hospital by onlookers and another police team.

Mahmood Lashari was referred to the Sukkur Civil Hospital due to his critical condition but he succumbed to his wounds on the way.

Lashari`s body was sent back to theKandhkot Civil Hospital, where the other two policemen were already admitted for treatment.

Upon receiving reports about the attack on police van, Kadhkot-Kashmore SSP Bashir Ahmed Brohi dispatched a strong contingent of police force drawn from different police stations to a village near Chimni. The police force was also attacked which led to gun battle.

However, the gangsters managed to flee into the nearby riverine area.

The police force had cordoned off the area and started a combing up operation till the last reports came in late in the evening.

Rangers kill `ringleader`s brother` A press statement issued by Sindh Rangers in the evening said that one of the most-wanted dacoits was killed and his hideout destroyed by Rangers following the attack on the police mobile earlier in the day.

Without naming the killed dacoit, the statement said that he was a brother of Malguzar Bahelkani, whose gang wasbelieved to be involved in the attack on police van. It said that two associates of the killed dacoit were wounded but managed to escape during the Rangers` action.

The killed dacoit was involved in a number of cases of heinous crime and the Sindh government had already notified a head-money on him, according to the statement.

The Rangers force surrounded the area and rounded up six suspects from the area, the statement said, adding that the operation against all fleeding dacoits was continuing.

Two hostages freed Two youths, Nadir Banglani and his cousin Qadeer Banglani, were freed from the clutches of a dacoit gang in a police action, Jacobabad SSP Syed Saleem Shah told a press conference at the B-Section police station of Thull town on Thursday.

The senior police officer said that acting upon a tip-off, a raid was conducted at a specified in the Rehzan Dhori village,located in the riverine area of the district on Thursday.

The two hostages, who were kidnaped on June 17 from within the jurisdiction of the B-Section police in Thull, were safely recovered and one of their kidnappers, Dilsher Banglani, was arrested. A weapon was seized from his possession, the SSP said. The gang had been demanding Rs10m for their release and had uploaded several videos on the social media showing the victims being tortured in their custody, according to sources.

The SSP said that Thull DSP Noor Mohammad Suhriyani and B-Section SHO Lala Ayaz Pathan led the police team that conducted the successful operation.

The freed hostages were brought to the A-Section police station for legal formalities before being handed over to their families, the police officer said.

In reply to a question, the SSP said that Dad Mohammad, Sain Bakhsh, Ahmed Deen, Shoukat and Ibrahim Banglani were the other members of the `Abdullah Maccho gang` which was involved in the two cousins` kidnapping.