Thounaojam Brinda, former Additional Superintendent of Police in the Manipur police department, said that chief minister Biren Singh is not fighting the illegal drug trade and poppy cultivation in the state. “He is part of the drug cartel. He is protecting them. He is their patron,” she said.
Brinda has recounted in detail a story she had earlier told to Tamal Saha of News The Truth about how, in 2018, chief minister Biren Singh made repeated attempts, including “illegal” ones, to get her to release a drug lord she had caught in possession of drugs worth several crores.
In June 2018, accompanied by 150 personnel, Thounaojam had raided the office of former ADC chairman of Chandel Lukhosei Zou, who is a member of the BJP, and found drugs worth crores as part of the raid. The chief minister had allegedly made at least three attempts to get her to drop the case.
He sent the BJP vice president to get her to drop the charge against the ADC on the grounds that he is the “right hand man” of the chief minister’s second wife. Then, the chief minister spoke to the director general of police and got him to put pressure on Thounaojam. Finally, he spoke to the SP, her immediate boss, and got him to put pressure. He also directly “scolded” her.
In the interview, Thounaojam names all these people i.e. the ADC chairman, the BJP vice president, the DGP and the SP.
This is truly an astonishing story. In my entire career as a journalist, I have never come across something so disturbing about a chief minister of an Indian state. It’s honestly hard to believe but for the fact that it has been picked up by Manipur papers, it’s part of the affidavit presented to the Manipur high court and Thounaojam has named all the people concerned.
As I said, Tamal Saha of News The Truth revealed this a few days ago. I have done a subsequent interview with Thounaojam – where she goes into the matter in greater detail and with greater analysis – because I think it’s only proper that this should be fully known to the people of India.
Not surprisingly, Thounaojam faces several defamation cases brought by the chief minister and others.
Now you must judge this story for yourself.
