Varanasi, Nov 22 (IANS): Police in Varanasi on Monday shot dead two criminals in an encounter and recovered a 9 mm Browning pistol.

The encounter took place in Baragaon police station area on Monday morning.

The two criminals were lodged in Bihar jail and had escaped from police custody sometime back.

The Commissioner of Police A. Satish Ganesh said that the criminals were identified as Rajneesh a.k.a Baua Singh and Manish, both residents of Samastipur district.

Both were brothers, and their third brother Lalan Singh is also absconding.

According to reports, the police had received a tip off about the criminals' presence and a joint team of crime branch and Baragon police intercepted them on Ring Road.

Seeing the police team, they opened fire and tried to flee from the scene.

The police also fired in self-defence. Two criminals sustained grievous bullet injuries, while one miscreant managed to flee from the scene.

A constable of crime branch Shiv Babu was also injured in the cross firing. The injured constable and criminals were taken to the hospital, where both criminals were declared dead.

The police recovered a 9 mm Browning pistol, a 32-bore factory made pistol and a motorcycle on the spot.

He said that for the identification of the killed criminals, their photographs were sent to Bihar police and all district headquarters.

"Bihar police ascertained the identity of the criminals, who had fled from the Patna jail. Bihar police were searching these notorious criminals, who were wanted in several cases of crimes including murder and robbery. The detailed criminal history of the killed criminals has been sought from the Bihar police," he said.