BENGALURU: Two policemen, including an inspector, sustained injuries after they were attacked by a gang of drug peddlers on Sunday. According to the police, the gang of nine was smuggling ganja at Venkatappa Layout near Ullal.A senior police officer said that the incident took place around 5.30pm. Acting on a tip-off, inspector Sathyanarayana of Byadarahalli police station along with four policemen went to the spot to nab the gang who were allegedly smuggling ganja.
When the police questioned the gang, Vaseem and the main accused Karthik stabbed constable Saabareddy (27) with a knife, injuring his shoulder and left hand. This is when Sathyanarayana opened fire in the air with his service pistol, directing the gang members to surrender.Vaseem and Karthik then tried to attack
Sathyanarayana and in the scuffle the inspector suffered minor injuries in his hand.
The inspector then opened four more rounds of fire and seven of the gang members were arrested. Two managed to escape with a bag of ganja. While one fled in a car, the other took an auto.
The gang was in the wanted list and police had been tracking their movements. They received an alert that the gang was near Ullal. The gang was supposed to distribute ganja to two other people, police said.
Constable Saabareddy was rushed to a private hospital in Tavarekere and was released later.
Those arrested are Karthik, Vaseem, Mallikarjun, Hameed, Halappa, Sana and Hemanth, all aged between 28 and 36. They are residents of Ullal Upanagar. Police have seized 500gm of ganja from them.
Police said that two of the arrested - Karthik and Hameed - were a part of a notorious gang and were booked for drug peddling, attempt to murder and robbery in Tavarekere and Kumbalagodu police stations.
A year ago, they tried to attack two policemen of Tavarekere police station.
The policemen were on patrolling duty in the area and had caught the duo with ganja.
Karthik is also said to have killed two police informers Sheru and Shaba in 2016. He was involved in four murder cases