Sambalpur: A wanted drug peddler was injured in an encounter with the police in Odisha’s Sambalpur district Sunday, a senior officer said Sunday.
As part of the ‘Nasha Mukt Odisha Abhiyan’, Odisha Police have intensified surveillance, night patrolling and enforcement against the illegal transportation, possession and trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and other intoxicating substances.
During night patrolling, a team from Rengali police station received reliable information that a large quantity of codeine-based banned cough syrup was being transported in two cars from Cuttack towards Katarbaga-Thelkoloi area though the Jangla forest, he said.
Acting on the tip-off, the police team conducted vehicle checking on the Jangla-Pandoloi Road. Two cars were seen approaching from the direction of Jangla village, he said.
Around 6.15 am, the police team intercepted the first vehicle and apprehended its driver, identified as Ashutosh Mendali. Another occupant of the vehicle managed to flee into the nearby jungle, the officer said.
The second car was travelling behind the first vehicle at high speed. During its bid to escape, the car failed to negotiate the narrow road and collided with a roadside tree. As the police personnel approached the vehicle, the driver, identified as Pritam Biswal, exited the car and attempted to flee, he added.
During the pursuit, Biswal opened fire at the police team, which retaliated, leading to a gunfight in which the accused sustained a gunshot wound in his right leg. He was shifted to Rengali hospital for treatment, the officer said.
During the inspection of the vehicles, police found 24 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup bottles, a country-made 9mm pistol and seven empty cartridges from the spot.
Further investigation is underway to determine the source, supply chain and intended destination of the cough syrup, the involvement of other persons, and the identity of the person who fled into the jungle, he added.