The encounter took place in in northeast Delhi's Khajuri Khas area. (Representational image)
Two wanted criminals were killed in a police encounter in northeast Delhi's Khajuri Khas area, police said on Thursday.
On the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, the SHO of Khajuri Khas police station received information about the presence of wanted criminals in Shri Ram Colony in Khajuri Khas area.
The two men -- Amir Khan and Ramjan -- were hiding inside a room on the second floor of a building in Shri Ram Colony, which is a densely populated area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast Delhi) Sanjay Kumar Sain said.
"A joint operation was conducted by teams of Khajuri Khas and Begumpur police stations. When our teams reached the spot, they asked the men to open the door but instead they threatened them," he said.
Mr Sain said the police asked them to surrender but they did not pay heed to their repeated requests and opened fire on the policemen.
A family residing in the adjoining room was evacuated along with other residents of the building, the DCP said.
"After over an hour when the two men did not budge, the police teams managed to break the door using a hammer and barged into the room where the accused were hiding," the police said.
"The accused person fired indiscriminately from inside and the police retaliated in self defence. During cross firing, constable Sachin Khokar and constable Kalik Tomar received bullet injuries and the two criminals also suffered bullet injuries. All the injured were immediately shifted to JPC Hospital, where both accused persons were declared brought dead," the DCP said.
Two automatic pistols, four magazines, a huge quantity of ammunition with live rounds and cash worth Rs one lakh were from their possession, they said.
Khan, a resident of Loni in Ghaziabad, was previously involved in seven criminal cases while his associate Rajman, a resident of Wazirpur Industrial Area, was involved in five criminal cases, the police said.
The police teams, along with forensic experts, have collected evidence from the spot for further investigation, they said.