About six people were killed in Imo state Thursday as robbers and kidnappers invaded Orlu and Ikeduru areas of the state. Two kidnapped Indians were however, rescued with some of the gang members seriously injured when a team of policemen led by the police commissioner, Mr. Aloysius Okorie, confronted the gang at Ama Nwozuzu in Ikeduru.

In Orlu, four civilians were reportedly killed by stray bullets during exchange of fire between the police and the gang, who successfully robbed two banks in the area, while in Ikeduru LGA, the robbers and kidnappers killed two persons and abducted two Indians before they were smashed at Ama Nwozuzu by Okorie led squad.

Unconfirmed report said the police killed five members of the gang after a prolonged gun battle with them but the command only paraded one of the seriously wounded suspects yesterday.

The commissioner of police, Okorie only told journalists that the remaining members of the gang may have died in the bush, adding that some of his men were still combing the bush to see if they could find any of them whether dead or alive.

According to him, the staggering suspect with swollen chick arising from bullets pumped into his neck was arrested yesterday morning in the bush where he fled into.

Giving detailed account of the encounter between his team and the criminals, the police boss stated that, following information that robbers were in the state, he mobilized his men and headed to Orlu where the bank robbery took place but on their way back through Amaraku in Mbano, around 7p.m, armed robbers operating in a white jeep opened fire on them.

"We had to retaliate and when the heat became too much on them, they abandoned the jeep and fled. But we saw two hands up in the boot of the car and I told my men to stop firing so that we could arrest somebody alive and interrogate him. "When we got nearer, we discovered that they were two kidnapped Indians. As God would have it, only one sustained minor bullet injury in the hand and he is now receiving treatment in the hospital. We searched the jeep and recovered one AK 47 rifle and 677 unexpended live ammunition," he recalled vividly.

He further narrated: "I want to tell you that for the bad boys giving us sleepless nights, we will give it back to them. We will send them to where they belong. As at now we are still combing the bush because we are sure that some of them may be found there either dead or alive."

On the bank robbery in Orlu, the police commissioner blamed the casualty on residents who he said trooped out to watch instead of taking cover. "The casualty was the fault of the civilians who trooped out instead of taking cover. People should take cover when gun shot is booming. "Common sense will tell any body that it is dangerous to come out to watch when there is staccato of gun shot but they were milling around and I learnt that some of them were even clapping. Well, I don’t know what that means," he said.

Meanwhile, one of the arrested kidnappers of the two Indians, who gave his name as Nnadozie John, a native of Nkpakiri in Obingwa, Abia state, said some of the other members of the gang were also from Obingwa, claiming that he was only accompanying them in his Toyota Camry car when they were accosted by the police.

He could not explain what his team came to do in Ikeduru. Some of the earlier arrested kidnap suspects in the state have been traced to come from Ngwa.