Ukhrul/Imphal, August 11: Five police personnel in Manipur, including the officer in charge of the Imphal East commando unit, have been suspended over allegations that they released suspected drug traffickers in exchange for a bribe of 600,000 rupees (about USD 7,200), officials said.
The officers, Inspector Ningthoujam Devdas Singh, Sub-Inspector B. Debson Singh, Constable Tarique Aziz, Head Constable Md. Rakib, and Jemadar Md. Amin Shah, were accused of detaining drug peddlers along National Highway 102, the Indo-Myanmar road, on August 5 before freeing them. Authorities said the men had been carrying illegal narcotics when they were apprehended.
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Separate suspension orders were issued against each of the accused. The Manipur police department said the officers were removed from active duty for “conduct unbecoming of a police officer” and “grave misconduct and dereliction of duty.” They have been directed to remain at their respective headquarters and barred from leaving without prior permission during the suspension.
Sub-Inspector Debson, one of the suspended officers, had previously been arrested in 2013 for allegedly transporting pseudoephedrine tablets worth more than 30 million rupees to Moreh, a border town in Tengnoupal district. At the time, the state government rescinded his Chief Minister’s Gallantry Award following pressure from a student organization.
The episode is the latest in a string of drug-related scandals to implicate Manipur’s police. In January, a rifleman from the 1st Manipur Rifles, attached to the Criminal Investigation Department’s Special Branch, was arrested with roughly 10.2 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine tablets in Kakching District.
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