Manipur Rifles personnel held with drug worth Rs. 20 crore

Manipur police arrested five persons including two personnel of 8th Manipur Rifles along with a huge consignment of contraband drug worth over Rs 20 crore in international market.

The two personnel of Manipur Rifles were identified as Hollal Haokip (41), “jemandar” posted at Leikun of Chandel and Lulun Haokip (27) a rifleman of the same unit. The three has been identified as Vahkin Haokip (30), Chichin Haokip (49), both from Pallel Bazar and Jamkhosei Haokip (27) of Moreh.

Driver of the Maruti car (Icon brand- MN07B 6275) Jamkhosei Haokip was also detained. An official source Wednesday said that a team of Thoubal police detected the huge consignment of psychotropic substances from two vehicles, Maruti Gypsy and Maruti car) heading towards Moreh on the Indo-Myanmar section of NH-2 at Lilong Usoipokpi under Lilong police station of Thoubal Tuesday, around 7 pm.

The five persons allegedly attempted to proceed to Moreh pretending the Gypsy vehicle belonging to SP Thoubal.

Police caught them after a brief chase on the highway. Police source alleged that the drug consignment was meant for onward smuggling to Myanmar and other countries through Moreh, the border town of Manipur at Indo-Myanmar border.

The exact quantity of the drugs cannot be ascertained from the source. However, it was estimated to be worth around Rs 20 crore in the international market.

All of them were produced in the court of Thoubal district chief judicial magistrate (CJM) and remanded to 15-day police custody for further investigation, source added.

Tuesday’s seizure of huge consignment was made after a gap of few months after the series of seizure of psychotropic substances by the Thoubal police from the Indo-Myanmar section of the highway.

On February 24 police had arrested Colonel Ajay Choudhury of the Indian army along with some accomplices in this district with prescription drugs worth over Rs 30 crore.