Ranchi, Feb. 21: Two members of the notorious Samrat gang were killed in a 30-minute-long police encounter at Murup forest, 40km from police headquarters, this morning, but their leader, Jainath Sahu, managed to flee.

The two have been identified as Rajendra Sahu (33) and Raju Sahu (25). While the former was wanted in at least 30 cases of murder, extortion and loot, the latter was wanted in at least 10 cases.

The two were among the three sharpshooters of the nine-member Samrat gang, an 11-year-old outfit that operates in Khunti and Ranchi districts. Acting on a tip-off that four armed gangsters were hiding in the dense forests, a nine-member police team reached Murup around 9am. The criminals opened fire the moment they saw the police team.

In the ensuing shootout, two of the gangsters were gunned down while kingpin Jainath and another aide, whom the police could not identify, managed to escape.

Confirming the breakthrough, SP (rural) Michaelraj S. said the bodies of the two gangsters had been recovered along with six rounds of ammunition.

“In half-an-hour, the police used 30 rounds of ammunition, while the criminals used around 20,” he said, adding that today’s encounter had significantly weakened the gang.

“The others will also be killed or put behind bars soon. We are trying to nab Ramesh Ram, alias Butru, the third sharpshooter of the gang,” said a police officer.

Samrat gang is a rival of extremist organisation People Liberation Front of India (PLFI), but exhorts levy and commits all the crimes that PLFI does, if denied levy.

Yesterday, another gangster, Dilip Sahu, was arrested and sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail.