Manipur: Drug lord Haji Basleuddin apprehended after two decades of arrest evasion

IMPHAL, June 8, 2018: Narcotic Affairs and Borders (NAB) Police Manipur has arrested a 'notorious' drug lord of Manipur, who has been evading arrest for over two decades.

Haji Basleuddin, alias Md. Masle alias Masleuddin, 63, was arrested from his residence on May 30 in a joint operation launched by a combined team of NAB and Thoubal district police, led by DSP-NAB, Thounaojam Brinda.

The combined team also recovered cash from the possession of the drug lord.

The present case is an outcome of the investigation of Kaimai WY case wherein 23 AR seized one lakh WY tablets on April 11 in which a retired DSP of Manipur police was arrested.

In a follow-up action, the NAB also arrested the retired DSP's wife followed by three kingpins from Moreh.

Masle has been declared a proclaimed offender by the police department for his involvement in several cases including drugs and arms trafficking, organised crime etc. and the first case against him was lodged in 1988 for deadly assault.

He is one of the known kingpins of drugs in Manipur, who runs international drug cartel spanning from Myanmar to India, Nepal, Bangladesh and other South East Asian countries.

According to the SP NAB, W. Basu, the father and son duo are major suppliers of heroine no.4 and WY tablets (synthetic drugs) to other parts of India and foreign countries.

Several attempts to arrest the drug lord in the past turned futile as the security forces are often met with stiff resistance from his gang of loyalists, who use deadly forces, said SP NAB, W. Basu.

In the latest operation that led to the arrest of the drug lord, many of the loyalists attacked the security forces including the lady officer leading the operation, he said.

While the police team this time managed to arrest the drug lords, his son identified as Md. Syed Ahmed alias Syrin, 27, who is also involved in many crimes, escaped.

Basu said the drug lord not only runs drug cartels but is also responsible for many organised crimes such as cross border arms trade, gold smuggling, vehicle thefts etc. "If he is put behind bars, 50 percent of drug menace in Manipur will be reduced," he added.

Masle has been remanded to police custody till June 11 for further investigation.

It is learnt that seven FIRs have been lodged against him currently in different police stations.

Moreover, the narcotic police are reportedly in touch with Delhi Police, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and other law enforcement agencies to dig out more connections in the international drug cartel.

TNT News with inputs from Imphal Free Press

Image Courtesy: Imphal Free Press