Daltonganj, April 4: Five persons, suspected to be the members of Sunlight Sena, a gang of landlords, were killed during a police encounter at Bhadua village under Vishrampur police station area of the district this morning.

Police recovered two semi-automatic rifles, a double-barrel gun, four country-made pistols and over 500 live cartridges from them. The gang’s leader, Bikau Dixit, was wanted by the police in connection with several criminal cases.

Police officials said with Bikau’s killing, whatever was left of Sunlight Sena in the region has been destroyed.

The encounter which began around 3 am lasted till 10 am, the police said. Bikau was reported to have taken charge of the gang after his own colleagues had allegedly killed Shailendra Singh in March last year. The sena, formed around 17 years ago, came into limelight for committing atrocities in the villages.

Police sources said Bikau was an accused in about 22 cases at the Vishrampur police station and the Daltonganj Government Railway Police station.

“On March 8 he had beaten up a panchayat sevak, Sant Kumar Mahto, after pulling him down from a train. Bikau had demanded money from Mahto, but when he did not pay up his face was badly distorted,” the sources added.

Police sources said a party of the Jharkhand Armed Police and the CRPF personnel of Vishrampur police station was patrolling late last night when it got information about the gang’s presence in Bhadua. The police raided the village and shot dead Bikau, Om Prakash Dixit, Umesh Dixit, Surendra Dixit and a person called “Netaji”.