Pallel drag case: Cong demands CBI probe, CM dismisses
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, January 20 2023: Contending that it has lost all faith in the present BJP-led government related to investigations into multi-crore drug haul cases in the state with many drug lords slipping away from the grip of the law, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has demanded handing over of the latest Pallel drug haul case involving five police commandos to the CBI.

Hours after the Congress party's demand for CBI investigation, chief minister N Biren asked the opposition party to stop playing childish politics if they truly want to eradicate the menace of drugs from the state.

Responding to question from the media during the function of releasing PM Narendra Modi's book 'Exam Warrior' at the CM's secretariat ,here, on Friday, Biren said that there are certain conditions for handing over a case to CBI.

A case can be handed over to CBI if the state police could not find a clue which will lead to cracking the case or police could not arrest the accused persons due to various reasons.

Coming down hard on Congress party for its CBI probe demand into the drug seizure case involving five CDO personnel, he reasoned that the Pallel drug haul is a successful operation as the drugs were seized along with arrest of five CDO personnel.

As such, there is no merit in handing over the case to CBI, since the state police, NAB, NCB and NIA are handling the case effectively, the CM explained.

He further said that his government can transfer the 28 old drug cases involving police, which took place during 2012 to 2016 since the state police are still clueless on cracking those cases.

Biren then asked Congress party to stop playing childish politics if they truly want to eradicate drug menace from the state.

It is unfortunate to obstruct an SP from doing his duty and to organise protests demanding CBI probe.

It will need commitment and transparency to root out drug issue from the state, he added.

Earlier in the day, a sit-in protest was staged at the gate of Congress Bhawan, BT Road, here, on Friday.

Organised jointly by Manipur Pradesh Youth Congress Commit tee, Mahila Congress Committee, NSU1 Manipur State and legal department of the party, placards inscribed with slogans demanding resignation of chief minister, removal of DGP and handing over of Pallel drug haul case to the CBI were put on display during the demonstration.

Speaking on the sidelines, Manipur Pradesh Congress Legal department chairmen S Shyamacharan acknowledged report of an FIR registered by the police department against the five commandos arrested with a huge consignment of drugs in Pallel area recently and their remand in police custody.

However, taking into account of the number of drug haul cases in the state and the inability of the authority concerned to identify, pull up and penalise the drug kingpins other than punishing the petty peddlers despite many appeals to the government for proper investigation of these cases, the party has lost faith in the BJP government and that the police investigation in the Pallel drug haul case would bring justice is doubtful.

Therefore, there is the need to hand over the case to the CBI so that all investigations are done without any bias, Shyamcharan said.

He also recalled the release of Lhukhosei Zou who was considered to be the kingpin of a multi-drug haul case.

Stating that the five CDO personnel arrested in connection with the drug haul case are not in a position to fund the multi-crore drug businesses, he also pointed out the possibility of the involvement of a kingpin or a drug lord in the latest case.

The legal chairman also expressed astonishment over the seizure of the drugs on January 16 morning from the CDO team which was returning from Moreh, a day after a grand festival of the Tamilians was celebrated wherein many ministers and higher officials of the government attended.

The ministers and officials left early in the morning while the drugs were seized around 7:30 am at Pallel, he pointed out.

The legal chairman, however, clarified that the party cannot provide proof of the suspected link between the two incidents and said that proper investigation is very much needed to get into the core of the case to find out the truth.

As such, a CBI enquiry is the need of the hour so that whosoever involved, be it MLAs or ministers, are brought to justice and ultimately make the "War on Drugs" campaign initiated by CM Biren more fruitful, he added.

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