The dismissed sub-inspector and his aide had 33 kg of cannabis in their possession.

Gorakhpur:

A policeman in Gorakhpur was dismissed after he and his associate were arrested for drug trafficking, an official said on Saturday.

Four policemen from neighbouring Maharajganj district were suspended for aiding the two men to smuggle the charas (cannabis) procured from Nepal, he said.

Sub-Inspector Ravindra Shukla, a resident of Lucknow, was posted at the summon cell in Gorakhpur. He and his associate Kulveer Singh were arrested on Thursday and 33 kg of cannabis was seized from their possession, Superintendent of Police (city) K K Vishnoi said.

“Gorakhpur and Maharajganj police, under a joint operation, caught two smugglers with charas worth crores of rupees in the international market. One of the smugglers works in the police department,” the SP said.

Acting on a tipoff, the two men were intercepted near Dharamshala police chowki while they were on their way to Asuran Chowk on a scooter. They have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, he said.

According to Inspector General (Gorakhpur range) J Ravindra Gaur, Shukla has been dismissed from service.

Mr Gaur directed SSP Gorakhpur, Gaurav Grover, to conduct a thorough investigation into the case.

Meanwhile, the Maharajganj SP suspended four policemen – a sub-inspector and three head constables – on charges of negligence, indiscipline and misuse of powers.

The personnel were deployed in the SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team and helped Shukla in running the racket, the dismissed policeman revealed during his interrogation, the officer said.

The suspended policemen are SWAT team sub-inspector Bipendra Mall, and head constables Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Krishna Kumar Singh and Vidyasagar.

A departmental probe has been initiated against them, the SP said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)