Lilong villagers allege police-crimil nexus

FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL, April 11: In an interesting twist, the villagers of Lilong Heinou Makhong in Thoubal district have accused some police commandos of the police station at Lilong of ganging up with car lifters and drug traffickers. In a statement, Arif Khan, secretary of Mohammedan Sporting Association, Lilong Heinou Makhong said on Saturday that the commandos in the civvies and armed with hand guns had in fact come to extort protection money from the drug traffickers there and they actually came in a  jeep which is used by the drug traffickers.

There were reports in some local newspapers which said that the villagers had assaulted the police commando team when the personnel had gone to arrest some car lifters. The six personnel sustained injuries. The havildar of the team identified as A. Kishorjit sustained head injuries and is in a serious condition.

However, the press release issued by the Mohammedan Sporting Association on Saturday said that the commandos had come in a jeep ( ML-10 3887) openly used by the gang. Some students had come out from their homes for going to private tuition. It was alleged that the two wheeler of one boy was stched by a commando and the student was bundled inside the jeep belonging to the drug traffickers. On seeing it, some villagers raised a hue and cry. In the scuffle, the commando havildar fell down and “sustained serious injuries”.  The press release regretted that the police commandos had given wrong information saying that they had gone there on receipt of information that there was a case of car lifting there.  The Association is demanding stringent actions against the police commandos failing which a meeting of the clubs and other organisations of the locality will be held on April 20 to chalk out further agitations.