Three suspected robbers were killed in an encounter with Assam police early on Sunday around 700 metres from an Indian Bank branch they had allegedly “planned” to loot in Kokrajhar district.

The deaths took the number of people killed in “encounters” in Assam to 20 since the BJP-led government returned to power in May. Another 31 have been injured.

The police said they had information about the group’s plan to rob the bank and deployed four teams to intercept them. The alleged robbers were killed in the ensuing encounter around 2.30am. Sources said there was Rs 25 lakh in the bank vaults.

Two of the deceased — Monuar Hussain, 27, and Aminul Hoque — were from Jaleswar in Goalpara district, while Daula Sheikh, 26, was from Bagarpara in South Salmara district. They were identified from documents such as Aadhaar cards and the cellphones they were carrying.

“We had intelligence inputs about a team of dacoits planning to loot the Allahabad Bank (now Indian Bank after a merger) branch at Bhotgaon, about 6km from Kokrajhar town. Another attempt to loot the bank had failed around three months ago. Since then we had been keeping a close watch on possible suspects,” a police officer said.

The suspected robbers fired first on the policemen, who resorted to “controlled firing” to protect lives and government properties, cops said.

The police teams, led by Kokrajhar SP Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar, intercepted the alleged gang at Chengmari near Bhotgaon around 2.30am.

A motorbike, a three-wheeler, two 7.65mm pistols with magazines and eight live rounds, six empty cases and three mobile handsets were recovered from the site, police said.

A .25-litre oxygen cylinder, a 14.5-litre domestic gas cylinder, a hatchet, an iron rod for breaking doors and grills, a cutting torch, two rubber pipes, a clutch plate, a slide wrench, a holder and aluminium wires were seized, the police added.

“When the firing ended after around 30 minutes, a combing operation began and three robbers were found injured while the others managed to run away from the spot, leaving behind the equipment and ammunition they had brought with them to loot the bank. They were declared dead on arrival at RNB Hospital in Kokrajhar,” a police officer said, adding the deceased trio had several cases registered against them.

At least three others escaped, the sources said, adding the police were probing the possibility of “locals” helping the gang.

Hailing the efforts of the police, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a major robbery had been foiled. “Assam has to be crime-free and free from murder, violence and hatred. We will continue to work in this direction,” he said.