SWABI, Oct 9: Two robbers were killed in a shootout after looting a bank here on Wednesday.

A policeman and a watchman of the bank received injuries in the incident. The encounter lasted for three hours when police chased the fleeing robbers after they looted the bank, an official said.

Sources said that six masked robbers entered a branch of Habib Bank in Panjpir area at 12 noon when there was a great rush of customers. The branch is situated just three kilometres away from the district headquarters.

The armed robbers opened firing on a watchman when he tried to resist them, they said. The watchman identified as Anwar Khan was injured seriously while the bank manager, Rashid Khan, along with other staff members was made hostage by the robbers.

Sources said that robbers threatened the bank staffers that they would be shot dead instantly if they tried to move from their place. One of the robbers kept a watch on the staff while his other accomplices collected Rs1.4 million from the bank and fled on their motorcycles.

Receiving the news of robbery, District Police Officer Sajjad Khan ordered his force to chase the robbers. Police sealed all entry and exit points of the area.

Police also besieged a nearby hill as they believed that the fleeing robbers were hiding there. The robbers started firing on the police party near Kaddi region.

The police party retaliated and the encounter lasted for three hours as both the sides resorted to heavy firing with Kalashnikovs. Two robbers were killed in the encounter and their bodies were taken to Shahmansoor hospital for autopsy but their identity could not be ascertained.

A police constable Mohammad Sajjad, a resident of Naranji village, was also injured in the shootout and he was taken to Shahmansoor hospital. Police also recovered two pistols and a motorcycle, left by the robbers.

A police official, when contacted, said that an operation was launched in Kaddi and Panjpir areas, however, the looted money was not recovered till filing of this report. He said that the remaining robbers were trying to escape but the police party was chasing them. “We will chase them till their arrest to recover the looted amount from them,” the official said.

The injured watchman, who belongs to Zaida city, was taken to Shahmansoor hospital from where he was shifted to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar due to his precarious condition.

The incidents of bank robberies are not uncommon in the district. On May 22, robbers looted about Rs2 million from a branch of United Bank in Maini village while on April 2, unidentified men robbed Dagai branch of Habib Bank. On May 31, 2011, four armed robbers took away Rs2.3 million from a National Bank branch in Zarobi village.