IPS officer and inspector repatriated to Delhi Police, Manipur requests substitutes for continued supervision of violence probe

While Pandey was deputed to the CBI, the other three officers were directed to work with the Manipur Government. Subsequently, on December 28, 2023, Pandey and Chauhan were promoted to the rank of deputy inspector-general (DIG) and were repatriated to their parent cadre after some months.

In an order issued earlier this month, H Balkrisna Singh, Additional Secretary (Home), Manipur, informed the MHA that the Governor was “pleased to repatriate two officers—Singh and Maheshwari—to their parent departments in accordance with the directions of the MHA and the proposal submitted by the Manipur Police Department”.

Officials said the MHA had earlier asked all states to nominate superintendent of police-rank officers for attachment to Manipur. Harendra Kumar, who was a superintendent of police at the time, was promoted as a DIG on January 1 this year and has now completed more than two years of service in Manipur.

“The MHA is hereby requested to provide attachment of suitable substitute officers to the Manipur government to ensure continued supervision and investigation of cases related to incidents of violence, in compliance with the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” Singh stated in the letter issued with approval of the competent authority.

Over 200 people had been killed, several hundred injured, and thousands displaced since ethnic violence first broke out in the state on May 3, 2023, when a “tribal solidarity march” was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.