A police team was allegedly attacked by suspected narcotics peddlers at a mango plantation in Nurpur-Fakirtola village in the Manikchak police station area of Malda on Monday morning.

Assistant sub-inspector Pijush Mandal was manhandled while he and his team were chasing a group of alleged drug peddlers who were meeting at the orchard, said a police source.

Civic volunteer Rintu Basak and another colleague were also reportedly assaulted.

Residents from Sheikh Para, Pathanpara, Fakirtola and other villages of the Nurpur panchayat came to the aid of the personnel.

A large police contingent led by Surjadipto Bhattacharya, the inspector-in-charge of Manikchak police station, arrived, but the alleged peddlers fled.

Residents claimed they had repeatedly alerted the police about the open sale of narcotics in the area.

“We had informed the police about the drug peddlers. They were selling narcotic substances openly in the villages. We never expected that those criminals would attack the police,” said Mohammad Abdul Moktar, a resident.

The injured officer and the two civic volunteers were treated at Manikchak rural hospital and released.

Police are tracing those involved in the attack to dismantle the alleged narcotics network operating in the area. A source said nine two-wheelers were seized from the plantations.

“We are trying to identify the accused through the registration numbers of the seized motorcycles,” an officer said.