Imphal: A police team led by the Additional Superintendent of Police, Tengnoupal district (Operation) was ambushed and an exchange of fire with the armed militants took place, an official report said on Friday.
The police team led by Chauna Anal was transporting an arrested drug smuggler from Khudengtabi Assam Rifles (AR) post to Moreh Police Station on the NH 02 on Thursday.
The alleged smuggler J. Alanson Lamkang (36) who was nabbed by the AR along with the drugs on October 11 was handed over to the police for legal proceedings.
The unidentified armed miscreants opened fire upon the police team from Hillock between Lokchao Bridge to Khudengthabi on the way to Moreh at around 5 p.m. on Thursday.
The police team led by Anal retaliated and engaged in an exchange of fire with the miscreants.
The armed men fled from the scene and later the police team recovered emptied caches of .32 magazines, 303 bullets, and AK rifles on a nearby hilltop where the armed men started firing.
There was no report of causality in the firing.
Notably, AR apprehended the alleged smuggler Khudengthabi along with 46.3 kilograms of World is Your (WY) tablets worth around Rs 20 crore in the international market along the Imphal-Moreh road.
The contraband tablets were brought from Moreh’s side in a Mahindra Bolero bearing an Assam Registration number.
Lamkang of Lamkang Khunou in Tengnoupal district has been handed over to Moreh police station, the report added.