New Delhi: Manipur Police Officer Thounaojam Brinda, who in July confronted Chief State Minister N. Biren Singh by alleging in a court document that he was under “ pressure ” from him to release a “ drug lord. drug ”, Police medal for gallantry.
The award was presented to her by the BJP Prime Minister in 2018 on the occasion of Patriots Day in recognition of her continued effort against smuggling and drug sales in the border state and she was also promoted to the position of additional superintendent. She was the first officer from the state’s Office of Narcotics and Border Affairs to receive a state award for gallantry.
The police officer’s action on December 18 came a day after the Special Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act (ND & PSA) court in Imphal acquitted the aforementioned person whom it had accused the prime minister of protecting. then, the former chairman of the council of the autonomous district of Chandel, Lhukhosei Zou – in the case. When he arrested Lhukhosei de Chandel with six other people during a raid on his official residence on June 20, 2018 with drugs worth Rs 27 crore on the international market, he was a member of BJP.
Before the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP had persecuted the then congressional government for failing to address the drug threat in the state and had also made it an electoral issue. After coming to power, Biren Singh declared a ‘war on drugs’. In addition to congratulating Brinda, who led several successful anti-drug operations in the state, the prime minister had repeatedly thanked the entire Narcotics and Border Affairs team for their “successful work.”
However, with respect to the 2018 case, documents filed by Brinda in Manipur’s high court last July as part of a 16-page affidavit highlighted the chief minister’s “ interventions ” to particularly protect Lhukhosei.
Four days after the state police filed an indictment, the ND & PSA court granted Lhukhosei bail, after which he escaped. However, in February of this year, he turned himself in to the police, but the ND & PSA court again granted him bail on May 21.
Brinda, who is currently an additional SP (headquarters), questioned the judge for repeatedly granting Lhukhosei bail in a post on social media on May 23. Manipur’s high court took note of this as a possible contempt of court case and had subpoenaed her to file the 16-page affidavit accusing the chief minister of pressuring her not to just stay away from submitting a sheet. of charges in the case, but also to release Lhukhosei from custody. She told the court that the prime minister had approached her through the state “vice president of the BJP, Asnikumar Moirangthem.”
In response, the prime minister had threatened to take action against her for defaming him. A war of words ensued, but no legal action was taken.
On December 18, following the release of Lhukhosei by the special court once again, Brinda wrote to the Chief Minister: “In recognition of this case as part of the honorable Chief Minister’s ‘War on Drugs’, I was conferred with the Medal from the Chief Minister to bravery on the occasion of Patriots’ Day, August 13, 2018 ”.
“However, the investigation and prosecution have been deemed unsatisfactory by the honorable ND&PS tribunal. I am morally inclined not to have carried out my duty according to ‘the wishes’ of the country’s criminal justice administration system. Therefore, for the reason cited above, I do not consider myself worthy of the honor that your good self has bestowed on me. Therefore, I return the same to the state Department of the Interior so that it can be turned over to a more dignified and loyal police officer, ”the letter said.
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