An Assam Rifles personnel was caught on the wrong side of the law again as a parcel containing poppy seeds was seized by NAB on 9 October. Manipur CM Biren Singh earlier spoke about the drug menace in Manipur.
NAB seized a poppy seed parcel
A team from the Narcotic and Border Affairs (NAB) police recently apprehended a parcel containing approximately 950 grams of poppy seeds. This parcel was sent to a member of the Assam Rifles from the Imphal Head Post Office. The sender, identified as Arif Hussain (MIR) from Bandipara, Jammu & Kashmir, dispatched the package, which was addressed to Ritukumari at HQ, Company 19, Assam Rifles, Noney State, Manipur, with the PIN code 795159. The consignment was registered under the number CQ328904976IN.
Under the supervision of the Officer in Charge of NAB – PS Imphal, the NAB team conducted the seizure in the presence of an executive magistrate. Additionally, a squad from the Imphal West Police, led by the OC Imphal West, was also on hand during the operation.
According to available information, the poppy seeds were concealed within a shipment of dry fruit items. Upon receiving information about the possible illegal contents being sent through the postal system, the NAB team followed the necessary procedures to inspect the items. Subsequently, the team discovered the illicit substances concealed within the parcel.
Assam Rifles’ past
The Assam Rifles (AR) is a paramilitary force controlled by the central government. It is responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast Bharat and especially guarding the Bharat-Myanmar border. The AR is one among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and comes under the administration of the Ministry of Home Affairs, while its operational control is maintained by the Indian Army.
This case casts a cloud on Assam Rifles, a section of which has been repeatedly caught on the wrong side. In August, Manipur police registered an FIR against them for obstructing their movement. Manipur Police accused the ninth battalion of Assam Rifles of blocking their movement in Bishnupur district. A police officer in Imphal said that Assam Rifles jawans, led by their officers, had last week blocked police vehicles on the Kwakta Gothol road while the police were going to undertake operations against militants.
A letter jointly signed by Manipur state BJP President A. Sharda Devi and Vice-President Chidananda said, “The role of Assam Rifles with regard to the ethnic unrest and in maintaining peace and tranquility in the state has been under considerable criticism and public outrage”. Since the outbreak of the ethnic violence on May 3, the Assam Rifles troopers completely failed to maintain their impartial role to restore peace and normalcy in the state, the letter said.
Prior to BJP’s Manipur unit, various Meitei organizations, including the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) and Meira Paibi, the ruling BJP in the state, also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace Assam Rifles with any other central paramilitary force in the state.
The apex Meitei body reiterated its demand in September. Meitei community apex body, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), again urged Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to replace Assam Rifles in Manipur with any other central force and take action against the Kuki militants.
A COCOMI delegation, led by Group Captain B.N. Sharma (retd), met the Defence Minister and told him that Meitei insurgent outfits had been already banned by the Union Home Ministry before 2000, so necessary legal actions had been taken against them, but, no actions have been taken against the Kuki militant outfits under the pretext of Suspension of Operations (SoO) and Kuki militants are firing from hills and farmers are being killed.
Questions were raised about a section of the Assam Rifle supporting Christian Kuki-Chin settlers attacking Hindu Meitei in Manipur. Furthermore, it must be pointed out that Assam Rifles had even filed a ‘sedition case’ against COCOMI.
With drugs funding terrorism in Manipur, the latest case of a member of Assam Rifle being possibly involved in the drug trade is a matter of concern.
(Featured Image Source: Imphal Times)
