Setting off a series of chain reaction : From Pallel to Deulalane to CBI
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 05, 2013 -

A check-point on NH-2 - Imphal-Moreh Road

24th February, 2013. Pallel. A Sunday morning. A high profile case.

Not only for it being the biggest drug seizure case in the State, with the monetary value of the drugs pegged at about Rs 25 crore, but also for the arrest of a senior Army officer, holding the rank of Colonel, who was travelling in a vehicle loaded with the drugs.

The development since then has been interesting.

The son of an MLA arrested, again with drugs from his residence, the State Government deciding to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the decision to empower the check posts along the Imphal-Moreh route to check vehicles of VVIPs and VIPs and clearly Manipur's tryst with the moneyed, powerful and influential people is all pervading.

Interesting but will the case go to its logical conclusion or will it be lost in the smokescreen that is sure to be created by different, powerful players is the uncomfortable but inevitable question that sits on the lips of everyone keenly watching the unfolding drama.

Will more skeletons tumble out or will it be a case of the Government 'looking after its men' and the political class 'demonstrating its maternal/paternal instinct' to protect their wayward offsprings ?

More specifically, is the State Government really sincere about nailing all those involved in the drug business or will it all be about a lot of noise with little substance to show at the end of the day ? All questions at the moment and with each such question raised, more speculations will certainly be in line.

Checking the vehicles of VVIPs and VIPs along Imphal-Moreh route sounds great.

A tacit acknowledgement that some of those who come under the nomenclature or class of VVIPs and VIPs may have a hand in drug trafficking and trading ?

Or is this just another populist measure to counter the demand raised by civil society organisations that the identities of the people behind the January 11 drugs seized at Tulihal airport be unmasked and made public ?

The decision of the State Government to hand over the Pallel case to the CBI will certainly go a long way in placating the hurt sensibilities of the people.

Just how close or how far apart is the policy of placating the people and cracking down on a menace, which has been played out under the nose of the people for so long, is a question that should not be lost on anyone.

A delicate line divides the two and it is this line which should not be allowed to be erased by any announcement made by the Government. This is where the watch dogs of society should sharpen its vision.

How far will the local authority, the State police in this case, go to extend their co-operation and help to the CBI, when the case is handed over to them ?

A paper tiger, this is what the CBI would be reduced to, if the local authority decides against extending the needed co-operation.

The decision to hand the case over to the CBI may then be seen through different perspectives.

One, it may mean that the State Government is under the belief that only an independent agency like the CBI can do justice to it and two, and this is very, very important, it could be another tactical move to ease the pressure on the State Government and create a smokescreen that it is intent on cracking down on the case.

From Pallel to Deulalane to CBI to checking the vehicles of VVIPs and VIPs along Imphal-Moreh route and certainly 24th February, 2013 has kicked off a chain reaction that is interesting in more than one way.