Kharar, December 3
Two members of the notorious Vijay Topi snatchers’ gang were killed and five arrested in an exchange of fire with the Gurdaspur police at Kharar today. One person was injured, while two managed to escape.

The gang members had gunned down a bodyguard of SP (Detective) in Amritsar a month ago. The latter had tried to intervene when the accused were teasing a girl. The gang members are wanted in several cases of snatching and some of them are proclaimed offenders, sources said.

A case was registered against them on November 15 at Pathankot. After that they had stolen car of a bank manager from Chandigarh on November 19. Acting on a tip-off, Dina Nagar SHO Sukhpal Singh, Dorangla SHO Joga Singh and Gurdapsur CIA in charge Surjit Singh started following the miscreants. SSP Mohali Gurpreet Singh said after covering Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the accused, in two vehicles, were moving towards Chandigarh.

Occupants of one of the cars shot at the police party, chasing them in plain clothes, near Sunny Enclave market at around 3.15 pm. Vijay Topi identified Dorangla SHO Joga Singh and opened fire. In return, the cops fired at the tyres of one of the cars. “Despite a flat tyre, the driver continued to drive and took vehicle inside the residential area,” an eyewitnesses said.

The cops continued the chase and opened fire again, killing two of them on the spot and injuring one. Five persons were arrested.

Vijay’s brother Rohit fled from the spot. A turbaned man is also believed to have escaped. Those arrested were taken to CIA headquarters at Kharar. Those dead have been identified as Luv Kumar from Maqboolpur, Amritsar, and Sunny from Pathankot.

One of the accused Mohammad Abbas, a resident of Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir was shot in the arm. He was referred to the PGI in Chandigarh.

Those arrested have been identified as kingpin Vijay Topi from Islamabad area Amritsar, Rocky, alias Ranjit, from Tilak Nagar Delhi, Babban from Amritsar, Latti from Jalandhar and Sanjeev Kumar, who later, much to the embarrassment of the police, turned out to be a passerby. “He became scared on hearing the firing. He started to run away and the police arrested him,” said his relatives. He was beaten up and was not allowed to utter even a single word, they alleged.