Nagaland | IPS officer who took seized drugs home suspended
KOHIMA, October 26, 2018: Nagaland police has booked Richard Yimto, a senior IPS officer who was found to be possessing 6.9 kg seized drugs, on Thursday.
Yimto who was serving as IGP (CID) and had claimed that he took the drugs home "in good faith", has also been suspended, a top Nagaland government official said.
The action comes almost two months after Yimto informed the state DGP T John Longkumer on August 25 that he had taken home drugs seized earlier that month from two car-borne men.
On September 1, 6.9 kilograms of brown sugar was seized from Yimto's residence.
"We received a report from the police headquarters on Wednesday. The chief minister ordered immediate action. The IGP (CID) has been suspended through an order issued on Thursday," said Abhishek Singh, commissioner and secretary to chief minister Neiphiu Rio. "An FIR has also been filed," Singh said.
DGP Longkumer said Yimto has been booked under the stringent NDPS Act and an investigation is on. However, it is not clear if he will be arrested.
"He is presently on leave. He is not here," said Renchamo P Kikon, additional director general of police, in-charge of law and order.
Yimto could not be contacted immediately despite several attempts.
The case pertains to a seizure of 6.9 kg of brown sugar by a team led by a sub-inspector of the narcotics cell of the Nagaland Police at the Khuzama inter-state border with Manipur on August 3. The contraband was found in a car coming from Manipur and two persons were reportedly detained.
However, no case was registered and the two men were let off. Yimto did not send a sample of the drug seized for forensic test as required. Instead he took them to his official residence and claimed later that he took it from the police headquarters store room as he thought it was not safe.
"I took them home in good faith for reasons of security. I wanted to nab the kingpin," Yimto had said earlier.
Sources close to Yimto said he sent a long explanatory note to the DGP on August 25, after he was told that the police headquarters was aware of the incident. He sent a note again on August 28 asking for directions.
However, a week later, Nagaland police seized the drugs from his house and served a show cause notice.
Meanwhile, Kikon, who did the preliminary enquiry, said it is not clear if the drugs were initially kept at the store room at all.
"When the matter came to light, they were clearly not at the store room and were later recovered from his residence," he said.
