India, July 23 -- Eight drug addicts escaped from a government-run de-addiction centre in Punjab's Sangrur district after attacking a policeman and a nurse with steel plates during dinner time on Tuesday evening, police said on Wednesday.

The police have formed teams to trace and apprehend the addicts, who were undergoing de-addiction treatment at the centre at Ghabbdan village.

The injured policeman, inspector Malkit Singh, said that the nurse was administering medication to the inmates when some of them pushed and hit her on the head. Following this, they attacked him on the neck and tried to strangulate him, causing him to lose consciousness.

Malkit Singh, who is undergoing treatment at the civil hospital, said: "Many inmates attemp...