The Police Command in Katsina State has said its operatives succeeded in killing three suspected notorious bandits’ kingpins.

This is contained in a statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Abubakar Aliyu, on Tuesday in Katsina.

He said the incident occurred on November 25 at about 10:30 a.m., while on a joint patrol with members of a vigilance group in Kwarare area of Jibia Local Government Area.

He said, “Some suspected bandits opened fire on the patrol team, in which the officers valiantly returned fire, forcing the terrorists to abandon their evil plan and fled into the nearby bush. While combing the scene and surrounding bushes, corpses of three neutralised suspected terrorists and a motorcycle which belonged to the bandits were recovered.’’

The PPRO added that the corpses were later identified as those of Bala Wuta, a suspected notorious bandits’ leader terrorising Jibia Local Government Area and its environs.

Others, he added, were Dogo Na Sahura and Hassan Bukuru, notorious suspected terrorists terrorising people in the area.

Aliyu said that efforts were on top gear by the police to arrest the fleeing suspects, while the investigation into the matter was ongoing.

The PPRO revealed that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Aliyu Abubakar-Musa, while praising the operatives’ professionalism, synergy and bravery, urged them to sustain the tempo.

The CP called on people of the state to continue providing the command and other security agencies with crucial and timely information on criminal activities.

“Report to the nearest police station or other security agencies, any person seen with suspicious injuries, as some of the bandits have escaped with gunshot wounds,” he said.

He said it would assist the security agents to promptly take decisive action with a view to curbing criminal activities in the state.

(NAN)