Three people, including an undertrial criminal, were killed in a shootout at Hazaribagh court premises in Jharkhand on Tuesday, police said.
A police constable was also seriously injured in the incident, police said adding that the yet unidentified assailants used an AK-47 gun which has been recovered from the scene.
The deceased have been identified as Sushil Srivastav, a criminal who was to be presented in court for a case hearing, and Gayas Khan and Kalam.
A police constable Devendra Paswan, who was accompanying them, also received bullet injuries.
"The attackers fled from the spot abandoning their vehicle when police retaliated," a police official told IANS.
"Jharkhand is witnessing murders, robberies and other crimes and the state government is claiming that the situation is under control," said Alok Dubey, a Congress leader.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das has, however, taken the incident seriously and directed the police to nab the assailants involved in the incident, officials here said.