The Commissionerate police were successful in nabbing two hardened criminals after an encounter near the Kuakhai river bridge under the Cuttack Sadar police station in the wee hours of Sunday.
The accused were Sudhakar alias lipu Patra and Manoj alias Mangu Both the accused sustained bullet injuries in their legs and were admitted to the SCB Medical College Hospital here.
The duo was wanted by police in connection with the Pratapnagari firing incident in which three youths were injured during post-Holi celebrations on March 4.
On a tipoff about the duo’s movement in the area, a special squad team raided the spot at around 3 am.
However, spotting the police team, lipu and Mangu opened fire at them in a bid to escape from the spot.
Police said they had to open fire in self-defence in which lipu and Mangu were injured.
Two pistols, 15 rounds of live bullets and 10 mobile phones were seized from the criminals’ possession.