Additional Superintendent of Manipur police, Thounaojam Brinda was dubbed as "fearless" after she arrested seven people who were involved in a 2018 drugs haul case. The same year, she received the Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Gallantry for her effortless contribution in curbing smuggling activities in the state. On Friday, she decided to return her medal saying “it may be given to a more deserving and loyal police officer.” The recognition was part of the chief minister’s 'War against Drugs' initiative.
Here are ten things to know about Thounaojam Brinda:
1. Brinda was the first officer from the state’s Narcotics and Affairs of Border Bureau (NAB) to be honoured with a state gallantry award in 2018.
2. Brinda returned her medal after a Special Court in Imphal acquitted Lhukosei Zou, former chairman of Autonomous District Council, among seven people who were arrested in the drugs haul case in 2018. The court on Thursday stated that the prosecution has “totally failed to prove the charges levelled against them.”
3. “.. . I feel morally inclined that I have not conducted my duty as ‘per the wishes’ of the Criminal Justice Delivery System of the land. Hence, for the reasons cited above, I do not consider myself deserving of the honour bestowed upon me by your good self. I, therefore, return the same to the state Home Department so that it may be given to a more deserving and loyal police officer,” wrote Brinda in a letter addressed to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh. She had earlier alleged that the chief minister was “piling pressure” on her to release Zou.
4. In June 2018, Brinda, who was then posted as an ASP with the NAB, led a raid at the residence of Zou in Imphal West and recovered contraband worth crores of rupees. She had arrested him with six others on June 20 with drugs worth Rs 27 crore in the international market. Zou was a BJP member back then. After the drug bust, Brinda was conferred with the gallantry medal on August 13, 2018.
5. Four days after the state police had filed a chargesheet, Zou was granted bail by the local court and he subsequently absconded.
6. However, in February this year, Zou surrendered himself to the police but was granted bail again on May 21.
7. Brinda was summoned and charged with contempt of court case for questioning the judge for repeatedly granting bail to the accused in a social media post.
8. At the Manipur High Court in July 2020, Thounaojam Brinda alleged in a court document that she was under "pressure" from the state chief minister to release a "drug lord" from custody. After Zou’s arrest, Brinda highlighted "interventions" from the chief minister and accused him of allegedly thwarting the investigation against the former BJP leader.
9. In July, Brinda was in news again when she was detained for allegedly violating lockdown norms at Sangaiprou Lamkhai, Imphal Free Press reported.
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10. The same month, Brinda had also said that her family was facing harassment in the name of providing security to her 76-year-old father-in-law, Rajkumar Meghan, who was the chairman of the Manipur-based insurgent group United National Liberation Front. She alleged that "police have been installed as there is a threat to my father-in-law’s life. We agreed to their presence in civilian clothes, but that very evening, much against what was agreed, they installed police in uniform and questioned family members and friends going out from our residence. This is called harassment, not providing security.” Brinda's father-in-law returned to Manipur after 44 years in November last year, after being released from the Guwahati Central Jail.
Feature Image Credit: Thounaojam Brinda/Facebook
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