MEERUT, Jan. 2 -- At least two suspected opium smugglers escaped after villagers attacked and surrounded a special operations group (SOG) team of the Uttar Pradesh police in Alampur Kot village under the Sirauli police station area in Bareilly district on Wednesday evening.

According to police, the SOG team of the Southern superintendent of police (SP), Anshika Verma, reached Alampur Kot around 5 pm in plainclothes, using an unnumbered white vehicle. Acting on intelligence inputs, four SOG personnel detained two village residents, Sher Singh and Sanjeev, for alleged involvement in opium smuggling and seated them in the vehicle. The duo was reportedly returning home from Ramnagar at the time.

However, moments after the vehicle started mo...