Varanasi: In a dramatic two-hour chase across Sonbhadra in the early hours of Monday, a Punjab-based drug smuggler was arrested after being shot in the leg during an encounter with a joint police team, while attempting to evade capture by throwing bundles of currency notes from his speeding car to distract pursuing officers.His accomplice, however, managed to escape under the cover of darkness.Sonbhadra SP Abhishek Verma said the high-octane chase, led by teams from the Special Operations Group (SOG), Robertsganj and Chopan police, culminated around 4.30 am when the suspect was apprehended in the Viranjua area under Rampur Barkonia police station limits.On spotting the police, the smugglers allegedly began throwing bundles of Rs 100 currency notes from their vehicle in an attempt to distract the pursuing personnel. When the SOG team closed in, the suspects repeatedly rammed their vehicle into the police vehicle, damaging it. Verma said that when the chase was disrupted near Salkhan due to the damaged vehicle, a local, Pradeep Kumar Modanwal, immediately offered his personal car to the SOG team, enabling them to resume the pursuit.The smugglers also rammed into Modanwal’s vehicle in a bid to flee, but by then, police teams from Chopan and Robertsganj had reached the spot and cordoned off their car. Verma said that the accused then jumped out of the vehicle and opened fire on the police team.In retaliatory action, one of the smugglers, identified as Prince (27) from Ludhiana, Punjab, sustained a bullet injury in his leg and was apprehended, while his associates managed to escape. Police have launched a combing operation to trace him.fter recovering 3 kg opium, 225 kg doda (raw opium), Rs 50,000 cash, a luxury car, one country-made pistol and cartridges, police rushed him to hospital. Verma said the total seized items were worth Rs 58.75 lakh.During initial interrogation, Prince revealed his gang had procured narcotics from Daltonganj in Jharkhand to transport to Ludhiana for peddling. He admitted the group had used the same route two to three times in recent months for drug consignments.Verma also announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for Modanwal for timely assistance to the police, while the SOG team was given Rs 20,000. Officials are in touch with police in other UP districts, Punjab and other states to verify the criminal history of Prince and his associates.
