Protesters Attack Houses Of 2 Manipur Ministers, 3 MLAs Over Hostage Deaths

Protesters barged into the homes of at least two Manipur Ministers and three MLAs in Imphal on Saturday, demanding justice for the murder of three persons in Jiribam district, the police said.

The mob attacks on legislators’ houses prompted the Imphal West administration to impose prohibitory orders in the district for an indefinite period. The authorities have suspended internet and mobile data services for two days in Imphal West, East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur.

A mob stormed the residence of Health and Family Welfare Minister Sapam Ranjan in Lamphel Sanakeithel area, a senior officer said.

Agitators in Sagolband area of Imphal West district gathered in front of the residence of BJP legislator RK Imo, who is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, and raised slogans demanding an “appropriate response from the government” over the killing of three persons and urging the authorities to “arrest the culprits within 24 hours”.

Protesters, who had come to meet Keishamthong constituency’s independent legislator Sapam Nishikanta Singh at his residence at Tiddim Road, targeted the office building of a local newspaper owned by him after they were told that the legislator was not present in the state, a senior officer said.

Three bodies, suspected to be of six missing people from Jiribam district, were found near the confluence of the Jiri and Barak rivers along the Manipur-Assam border on Friday night.

This morning, the sources confirmed two of the bodies were of children and one was of a woman. The corpses had bloated due to some decomposition, they said.

The women and children were taken hostage by a group of suspected Kuki insurgents from Jiribam’s Bokobera neighbourhood while another group of insurgents were engaged in a gunfight with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), sources have said.

Ten of the suspected Kuki insurgents were shot dead in the encounter.

Fighting broke out in the northeastern state more than a year ago between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community. The conflict has simmered since then, splitting previously cohabitating communities along ethnic lines.