Airport drug haul case of 2013 : Court gives 'last chance' to MLA to appear on Jun 13
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 28 2019: Taking serious note of the regular failure of MLA O Henry from appearing before the Court, the Special Judge, ND&PS Fast Track Court, Manipur, has allowed a plea filed by the MLA for 'the last time,' and fixed June 13 as the date of hearing of the Tulihal Airport drug haul case of 2013.During the trial, all persons in the case namely, Rajneesh Kumar (44) s/o (L) Mahendra Prasad of Rajendra Nagar, Patna, Ramveer Tyagi (42) s/o Satish Tyagi of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, Sapam Angus alias Nanao (25) s/o Inaobi of Changangei Mayai Leikai, Md Rajauddin (29) s/o Md Riyaj of Lilong Sambrukhong and L Tarpon s/o Gulamjit of Keishampat Thokchom Leikai, were present before the Court with their respective counsels, except Okram Henry s/o (L) Lukhoi of Mantripukri who filed an application (through his counsel) seeking absence on health grounds.

After going through the application filed by the counsel of Okram Henry along with the medical certificate issued by the doctor concerned, the Court allowed the application for the 'last time' and fixed June 13 as the next date of hearing.

It is worth noting that O Henry has failed to appear before the Court for the trial since the last few hearings and he was instead represented by his counsel.

On the other hand, during the trial today, two prosecution witnesses M Pritamkumar of Malom Awang Leikai and Umesh Vijay, were produced by CBI (the investigating agency of the case).

They were examined, cross examined by the Court and discharged.

After the hearing, the Court also directed CBI to produce the maximum number of prosecution witnesses on the next date of hearing.

It may be mentioned that on January 11, 2013, a team of Special Intelligence Unit seized seven unattended carton boxes (suspected to be containing drugs) which were transported from Kolkata at Tulihal International Airport.

A few days after the seizure, the SIT was abolished by the higher authority of Manipur Police.

The case was transferred to CBI following an order passed by the State Government and after the completion of the investigation, CBI submitted the necessary charge sheet before the Court in April of 2016 against the accused individuals.

Charges against the accused persons were framed on May 22, 2017 and the hearing of prosecution witnesses began from June 2017 onwards.

Till date, more than 30 witnesses have given their submission before the Court.

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