Retired Manipur DSP held in drug smuggling case

Manipur Police say the seized drugs are worth around ₹40 lakhs in local market.

The Manipur police arrested a retired police officer Friday night after a suspected drug runner named him in connection with the seizure of tablets of banned narcotic called World is Yours (WY).

The SUV from which the Assam Rifles seized 100000 tablets of the banned drug World is Yours (WY) from a resident of Assam.(HT PHOTO)

The Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) of Manipur Police department said the retired DSP identified as one Md Abdul Latif (63), in Imphal East district was made after one Manzil Ahmed Laskar (30) named him following the seizure of WY tablets from him.

Manzil, a resident of Uttar Lalpani of Jirighat in Assam’s Cachar district was arrested by the Assam Rifles on April 10 from Kaimai, around 155km west of Imphal on the Imphal-SIlchar highway after he was found carrying 100,000 WY tablets in an SUV. The consignment Is said to be worth around ₹40 lakhs in local market.

The Assam Rifles handed over Manzil and the seized drugs to the NAB and a case has been registered under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the NAB said in a statement.

During interrogation Manzil disclosed that the seized drugs were loaded in the SUV at ex-DSP Md Abdul Latif’s residence at Dewlahlad in Imphal.

“We made the arrest around 8.10pm on Friday. Latif has been remanded into police custody till April 20,” said deputy superintendent of police Th Brinda of NAB. “Investigation is going on.”

Last month, the Assam Rifles made one of the biggest drug seizures when it nabbed an alleged drug peddler with brown sugar and WY (World is Yours) tablets worth over ₹11 crore in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district.

In the last four months, the NAB has arrested 17 people and registered 30 cases in connection with drugs cases, the police officer added.