Both men, police say, are involved in murder and assault cases.
Two career criminals -- Vinod, and Ramesh -- were killed in a police encounter at Guduvanchery, outside Chennai, around midnight.
Police claim a four-member gang travelling in an SUV hit a patrol party when they stopped it at Guduvancherri, under Tambaram city outside Chennai. The gang also allegedly assaulted the police and threw a country made bomb at them. "It was at this point that a Sub-inspector and an Inspector opened fire. Two men were injured and were taken to the Chengalpattu Government hospital, where they were declared dead. The other two escaped," Pa Moorthy, Additional Commissioner of Police, said.
Both men, police say, are involved in murder and assault cases.
One sub-inspector suffered an injury, and is being treated at the government hospital in Chromepet, they said.
Police are required to point only below the knees of the accused when their life comes under threat, so the perpetrators could be brought to justice.
It is not clear yet where the dead men were shot at.
"Hope it's not a fabricated case. All would depend on the injury sustained by the Sub Inspector," Henri Tiphagene, Human rights activist and Executive Director of People's Watch, told NDTV.
"This is a fit case for an inquiry by the magistrate under 176 1A (of the Code Of Criminal Procedure). Let them follow the procedure. Only two medical college Professors ought to perform the post-mortem. The family ought to be allowed to take pictures of the bodies and post-mortem video graphed," he added.