A senior police official from Manipur on Friday returned the gallantry medal conferred by the BJP-led state government after a special court acquitted seven accused, including a former district council chief, in a drug haul case probed by her in 2018, prompting several student and civil society organisations to demand reinvestigation of the case.

Additional SP Thounaojam Brinda in a letter to chief minister N. Biren Singh on Friday said since all the accused were acquitted by the Special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (ND&PS) court on Thursday because the “investigation and prosecution have been deemed unsatisfactory” by the court, she does “not consider myself deserving of the honour” bestowed on her by the chief minister.

“I, therefore, return the same to the state home department so that it may be given to a more deserving and loyal police officer,” Brinda said in her letter which was also marked to the governor and the chief secretary.

In June, 2018, a Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) team led by Brinda had seized drugs worth over Rs 27 crore from different places, including the official residence of former chairman of Chandel Autonomous District Council Lhukhosei Zou, 51, in Imphal.

This is the second time that the state’s government’s “war on drugs” has hit the headlines this year.

In August, the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) had highlighted how a sub-inspector arrested in a 2013 drug-trafficking case figured in the chief minister’s police medal for gallantry list. The Manipur government promptly conducted an inquiry and withdrew the award besides placing the cop under suspension.

Brinda was conferred the Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Gallantry on Patriot’s Day observed on August 13, 2018 as part of the chief minister’s initiative on “War against Drugs”.

The AMSU, Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) United Peoples’ Front (UPF), Manipur, and Coalition Against Drugs and Alcohol (CADA) have asked the state government to reinvestigate the case. They wanted the government to take all possible steps to get the accused in drug-trafficking cases convicted for the success of its war on drugs.

The AMSU and DESAM also sought proper security to the witnesses so that they can testify freely in drug-related cases. AMSU president Peter Laishram told The Telegraph they were pushing for reinvestigation because it appears from the acquittal order that the case was not “properly handled” by the government side.

Brinda had last hit the headlines in July for a critical Facebook post against the judiciary for granting bail to Zou in the case. She had even said pressure was created on her to let go Zou in the case. Zou was expelled from the BJP after his arrest.

Of the 13 accused in the case, two have been convicted by the ND&PS court. They will be sentenced on December 21.