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6 cops including SHO suspended in NDPS case against 18-yr-old: SP tells HC
Police said a departmental inquiry has also been initiated against the police personnel for “procedural irregularities” in the opium smuggling case
BHOPAL: An 18-year-old arrested by the Mandsaur police on charges of possession of 2.7kg opium in August this year was wrongly arrested in the drug case, the district superintendent of police (SP) has told the Madhya Pradesh high court.
Mandsaur SP Vinod Kumar Meena acknowledged flaws in the police case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against Sohan Lal, a Class 12 passout.
According to the First Information Report, Lal was arrested with the opium in his backpack in front of a crematorium near Banda Khal intersection on August 29, 2025. But footage from a CCTV camera in a bus showed Sohal Lal being picked up from the vehicle hours earlier.
Sohan Lal, who aspired to join the civil services, was released on bail after spending two months in jail.
In a petition filed in the high court, Lal’s family challenged the police case and accused the police personnel of abducting him from the bus during a journey from Mandsaur to Pratapgarh.
Initially, the Malhargarh police told the court that they could not identify the men who escorted Sohan Lal out of the bus.
Sohan Lal’s advocate Himanshu Thakur said the CCTV evidence directly contradicted the police’s narrative in the FIR. “When questioned, the SHO of Malhargarh refused to identify the men in the footage as police personnel,” Thakur said.
The high court eventually summoned the Mandsaur SP, who confirmed on Tuesday that the men who had taken Sohan Lal with them were cops.
“The SP acknowledged that six policemen were suspended and a departmental inquiry has been initiated in this case. The suspended policemen include Station House Officer Rajendra Pawar, Sub-Inspectors Sajid Mansuri and Sanjay Pratap Singh, and constables Narendra, Jitendra, and Dilip Jat. The SP also admitted the flaws in the case,” Thakur added.
The high court’s Indore bench has reserved its order.
“Sohanlal is a promising student who passed the 12th grade with first division and wanted to prepare for the civil services,” said Thakur.
