Imphal: A Manipur Police commando personnel succumbed to injuries after he was allegedly stabbed by a drug peddler during an anti-drug operation in Manipur’s Thoubal district on Wednesday night.
According to police, acting on credible intelligence about illicit drug trafficking, a Commando Thoubal team launched an operation at Moijing Khongkok at around 8:20 pm and detained two suspects.
During the operation, one of the detainees, identified as Md. Naobi alias Mahil (25), allegedly attacked Havildar Kh. Suresh Singh of the 4th India Reserve Battalion (IRB), who was attached to Commando Thoubal, with a knife. The officer sustained fatal injuries in the attack before the accused fled the scene along with the second detainee, police said.
The injured police personnel was evacuated to District Hospital, Thoubal, where he was declared brought dead at 9:15 pm.
Following intensive search operations, the main accused, Md. Naobi alias Mahil, was arrested by Thoubal District Police at around 8:45 am on Thursday.
Further search operations and investigation are underway, it added.
Expressing deep concern over the incident, former Chief Minister N Biren Singh said it was deeply disturbing that a uniformed personnel, out on duty, fighting the drug menace, losing his life at the hands of a petty drug peddler.
“This is not just sad, it is shameful for all of us as a society,” he wrote in a Facebook.
Biren Singh stated that security forces have made immense sacrifices over the years, whether in the War on Drugs, the destruction of illegal poppy cultivation, or in safeguarding civilian lives and property following the violence that erupted on May 3, 2023.
“They stood there when many of us could not. And today, one of them is gone while doing his duty,” he said.
How much more will we allow drugs to destroy us? The person responsible must be given the strictest punishment. No soft corner. No excuse. No protection, he further questioned.
Warning that drugs are steadily eroding society, the former Chief Minister said, “We are drowning, and this poison will take away everything from us.”
He also appealed to local clubs, village authorities, civil society organisations, and all responsible citizens to take a firm stand against drugs, stressing that the fight must be pursued not only through words but through concrete action.