Violating curfew, a mob vandalised and set ablaze Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh’s house in Manipur’s Imphal town, officials said on Friday, June 16. According to the police, a mob of 200 men and women attacked the Union Minister’s residence late Thursday night. Singh, who is also the Minister of State for Education, is currently in Delhi.
Though a portion of the minister’s house was burnt, security guards and firefighters managed to control the blaze and save most parts of the house from being burnt down. The incident took place after the burning of two more houses belonging to locals and clashes between the Rapid Action Force of Manipur and a mob in the heart of Imphal town the same afternoon. The mob, which roamed the capital city, also clashed with security forces in different places.
Singh’s house was also targeted on May 25 when thousands of people attempted to assemble in front of his residence but the security forces stopped them. Police said the mob, comprising men and women, demanded an early solution to the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities. The mob accused all the ministers and MLAs of not doing enough to end the crisis in the state.
On Wednesday, assailants burnt the official residence of Manipur’s Industry Minister Nemcha Kipgen in the Lamphel area in Imphal West district. The officials said that Kipgen, the lone woman minister in Manipur, was not at home when the attackers burnt down her official bungalow.