During a police check in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday late evening at about 8, a motorcycle-borne ganja smuggler tried to flee, and when police chased and surrounded him he opened fire.[1] In the retaliatory action he was shot in the leg, and police arrested the wounded accused and admitted him to the district hospital in the New Mandi Kotwali area on Kukda Road.[2] The injured man was identified as Ashish, and police sent him to the district hospital for treatment.[2]

Police seized about 22 kg of ganja, a country-made pistol, cartridges, a motorcycle and cash from him.[2] Police valued the seized ganja at about 15 to 20 lakh rupees in the international market.[2]

The Kukda Road check was run under Operation Savera on the deputy inspector general’s instructions, and the team signalled a speeding motorcycle coming from the Bhopa Road side to stop.[2] The rider suddenly turned and fled, and his motorcycle slipped and fell as he tried to reach the highway by a rough track.[2] Circle officer Raju Rao said the man admitted in questioning that he had bought the ganja from a person to sell at the local level.[2] Police are gathering information about his supply network and the others involved in buying and selling the ganja.[2] About half a dozen theft cases and cases of assault and molestation are registered against him, and he has been in jail before.[2]