The armed group was smuggling the drug to Laukaha, India, when it opened fire on the joint team of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force patrolling the area. [break]
The drug smugglers, numbering around a dozen, fired around 10 to 12 shots at the patrolling team from a paddy field, Ashok Singh, sub-inspector at the Area Police Office in Thadi, said. The smugglers fled the scene after the patrol team fired seven shots in retaliation.
Police said they fled to Lalpur village, three kilometers inside the Indo-Nepal border.
Police recovered some 60 kilograms of refined marijuana sealed in two gunnysacks from the scene after the smugglers fled. Area Police Office, Thadi, said the group included smugglers from both sides of the border.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramesh Bhattarai in Siraha said they have launched a manhunt following the incident.
Local residents said smuggling of Fancidal, Corex and small arms into Nepal from across the border continues unhindered. They said that though the smuggling has been going on for long and is nothing new, the entry of arms and drugs in recent years has scared them to death.
However, Siraha Police Chief SP Bhattarai, said he was unaware of smuggling from the Thadi point. He, however, pledged to take stringent action against those involved in the illegal trade.
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