The spokesman of the command, SP Gambo Isah, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Katsina.

Isah said that the suspects were killed on Oct. 27 at about 04:00 hours at Tsaskiya community in Safana local government area.

“Based on credible intelligence, the command in collaboration with the military, succeeded in repelling coordinated attack by bandits on revenge mission on Tsaskiya Community of Safana.

“Bandits numbering over 200 armed with sophisticated weapons like General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and AK 47 rifles, shooting sporadically, clandestinely attacked the village through three entry security barricades.

“The combined security teams engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel and as a result, five suspected bandits were killed and many escaped with gun shots wounds,” he said.

He further said that the hoodlums shot and killed one Rabe Bala, 30, a lunatic, when they sighted him in the village.

The police spokesman explained that the hoodlums kidnapped three women who ran into a nearby bush path for safety while on their way out of the community.

He said that search parties were still combing the nearby bushes with a view to recovering more corpses and arrest the injured bandits. (NAN)