Shots rang out sharply from within the hut as the thirty or so policemen approached. The officers immediately returned the fire. Realizing that they were outnumbered and trapped. the gangsters dropped two or three pistols into the muddy creek, and awaited developments. By then a large number of shots had been fired by both sides, but apparently no-one had been hit.
The police closed in on the hut and ested the occupants, including the an who had been wounded in Mon-night's encounter off Tunsin Road. Those arrested were six men and three women. With the three arrested in the Settlement. a total of twelve suspects thus had been taken. The three were being questioned last night as the police were trying to learn in what crimes they had been concerned. A fourth lay in the Police Hospital in serious condition, and the remainder, though wanted by the police. were in Japanese hands.
Operations to recover the discarded pistols were started without delay yesterday afternoon. In the soft and deep mud below the gangster hut the detectives patiently delved and sifted until late. They found one of the pistols before darkness fell. It was a.38 calibre Colt and it was recogni ized to be a weapon stolen from the SALP. It was kept yesterday by the Japanese Military Police and therefore could not be examined by the SMP. ballistics expert with a view to identify it fully. Thus, it was felt, the police investigation received a second serious setback.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.