Sambalpur, March 2: A 60-year-old man, who was part of a group of villagers who had dared to challenge a gang of dacoits at Patrapali village in Baragargh district, was shot dead on Sunday night by the goons.

The villagers, however, managed to overpower one of the dacoits.

The deceased has been identified as Durlabha Seth.

Six to seven armed goons on Sunday night had barged into the house of Narayana Bishi at Patrapali village. When they were trying to escape with cash and valuables, villagers tried to capture them. However, the goons opened fire at Durlabha and escaped. He died on the way to a hospital.

"They were armed with swords and firearms. They entered our house through the front door. After I realised that they were dacoits, I jumped from the roof and informed the neighbours," said Bagru Bishi, brother of Narayana.

"Subsequently, the villagers assembled and went to our house to capture the dacoits. On seeing us, one of them opened fire and the bullet hit Durlabha. In the chaos, barring one, the other members of the group managed to escape," said Bishi.

"We managed to capture one of them," said a villager, Suban Seth.

The dacoit, who has been captured by the villager, has been identified as Rajib Bag. He has also sustained injury in the attack.

He has been admitted to the district headquarters hospital at Bargarh.

Police have seized two firearms, a sword and a bike from the spot.

"We shifted Durlabha, who had sustained bullet injuries, to the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Burla. However, he succumbed to his injuries on the way to Burla," said a cop.

"The dacoits looted cash around Rs 70,000 and gold ornaments from the house. They had fired two round of bullets to escape from the spot. One of the bullets hit Durlabha, who later died," said sub-divisional police officer N. Dansana.

"We have formed special teams to nab the other accused. An expert team and a dog squad had also visited the spot. The other dacoits will be arrested shortly," said Dansana. He also said the police had identified the members. While three of them, including Rajib, hail from Bheden block, one is from Bargarh, two are from Titlagarh in Balangir district and another one is from Hirakud.