KATHMANDU, July 4: An alleged Indian drug trafficker was shot and arrested after an exchange of fire with police in Siraha on Friday.
According to police, the incident occurred in the border area of Nawarajpur Rural Municipality-5 after a police team deployed from the Maheshpur Patar Area Police Office acted on a tip-off about large-scale drug trafficking.
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A team led by Police Inspector Bishal Malla came under fire from a group of three to four armed suspected drug traffickers stationed near the border. Police returned fire after none of the officers was hit, officials said.
Deputy Inspector General Om Adhikari, chief of the Madhesh Province Police Office, said police fired two rounds in self-defense, injuring Abdul Kalam of Madhubani, India, in the leg before taking him into custody.
Police identified Kalam as the alleged ringleader of the trafficking network. Preliminary investigations indicate that his group had been smuggling brown sugar from India into Nepal on a commercial scale.
Police recovered 122 grams of brown sugar and a country-made pistol from the scene. Other suspects fled across the border into India.
The injured suspect is receiving treatment under police security at the Provincial Hospital in Siraha, police said.
