Lucknow, Sep 22 (IANS): Three "hardened criminals" were killed in a five-hour gun battle with police in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh early on Thursday, police said.
An official said the gun battle started around midnight in village Begrajpur when a police team raided a house where the criminals were hiding.
Many weapons and mobile phones were recovered from the site. A family was caught in the crossfire but was rescued safely, an official told IANS.
The criminals who died were identified as Sachin, Gaurav and Deepak Rathi. Police suspect they were planning to execute a major robbery in the area.