Paradip, May 11: Three criminals and three policemen were injured in a gun battle at Kokidai forest in Jagatsinghpur district yesterday afternoon. The injured goons were later arrested.

Police had conducted a raid to bust the hideouts of a crime syndicate that was active in Jagatsinghpur, Paradip and Kendrapara.

Three policemen were injured when the criminals hurled country-made bombs at them. Two other goons managed to flee.

Three goons, wanted for their involvement in a series of highway robbery, dacoity and extortion cases suffered bullet wounds when the police team fired in self-defence. The injured criminals have been identified as Bikram Swain of Sadeipur village and his associates Dhani Nayak and Srikant Behera from Cuttack town, said Jagatsinghpur police superintendent Satyabrata Bhoi.

“The encounter occurred during the course of a raid at the criminals’ hideout. To escape from the police net, they fired and the police retaliated in self-defence,” said Bhoi.

Country-made revolvers and live cartridges were seized from their possession. The goons had been involved in a series of crimes committed in Jagatsinghpur recently.