August 11, 2025
Imphal: 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.
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 At the time, the state government rescinded his Chief Minister’s Gallantry Award following pressure from a student organization.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.
