Madhubani: A policeman and a home guard were injured when liquor smugglers attacked a police vehicle and freed an arrested smuggler in Madhubani’s Basopatti area late on Monday evening.The incident occurred near Bundelkhand village on the Babhandai Chowk-Kodarkatta main road, where a police team was conducting an evening patrol. The team reached a liquor smugglers’ den near a hotel to conduct a raid.During the raid, policeman Dinesh arrested one of the smugglers. Others then clashed with the police and, in an attempt to free the accused, ambushed the police vehicle from behind and pelted it with bricks and stones. The vehicle’s windows were smashed and home guard jawan Suresh Paswan was also injured.Around 25 to 30 men and women are believed to have taken part in the attack. The policemen managed to escape, while the attackers broke the rear window of the vehicle and freed the arrested trader.On receiving information, a police team led by Basopatti police station in-charge Dharmendra Kumar reached the spot and cordoned off the area. The injured policemen were taken to PHC Basopatti for treatment.Dharmendra said an FIR had been registered and police were identifying around 30 unidentified men and women, besides 14 named accused. Twelve accused, including a woman, have been arrested. The Jainagar sub-divisional police officer also inspected the scene and issued directions to police officers.
