Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren on Wednesday announced a cash reward of ₹15 lakh to police commandos of Thoubal district for busting a narcotics drug manufacturing factory at Lilong on March 7.
Earlier, he had given ₹20 lakh reward to some villagers for volunteering to cut down standing verdant poppy plants in the mountains.
Mr. Biren said, “The government will appreciate such actions as it concerns the future of the young generation. We will also punish the wrong doers, if established. We seek cooperation from all sections of people. Without the support from the people we could not have made such achievements.”
So far, the police and other forces have destroyed lakhs of poppy plants, which are the main ingredients for manufacturing brown sugar and heroin. Official reports said police and paramilitary forces had destroyed two such illegal factories each in Thoubal and Churachandpur districts in the recent past.
Superintendent of Police, Thoubal district, S. Ibomcha, said, “We have declared a war against the drugs. On March 7, we got a reliable report on the presence of an illegal drug factory in Lilong. We recovered over 1,000 kg of heroin, brown sugar, opium, chemicals, other ingredients and accessories for manufacturing drugs. We gratefully acknowledge the appreciation by the Chief Minister.”
Earlier, the Thoubal district police had seized drugs worth over ₹400 crore and nabbed one foreigner, said to be a drug baron. However, all the arrested were released on bail later.
Meanwhile, women activists have been running from pillar to post with memoranda to go to a higher court against a lower court verdict concerning the seizure of drugs worth over ₹27 crore in Imphal. The main accused was a chairman of the Autonomous Council from whose residence the drugs were seized by a NAB team. The women activists said, “It is outlandish to say that the BJP chairman was innocent and his 19-year-old driver was the owner of the drugs. We are appealing for going to a higher court. We have not gained any grounds except for verbal assurances.”
Manipur is adjacent to the golden triangle and officials say the border State has been the conduit for drug trafficking in the north-east region for a long time. Most of the cases are still pending.
