Imphal: A mob attacked MP Rajkumar Ranjan Singh’s house late Thursday, a day after a 40-year-old man from the Meitei community was killed in fresh violence in Manipur’s Bishnupur district.
Personnel from the Rapid Action Force and the Jat Regiment of the Indian Army were trying to desist the crowd gathered outside the house of Singh, who is a minister of state for external affairs and education.
The crowd, which comprised of Meitei men and women, attacked the house of the MP, who is from the same community, over the latest death in the Manipur violence, which has claimed dozens of lives in recent weeks.
While a person aware of the matter said Singh was inside the house when the mob attempted to burn the house, three other members of his family were present in the building.
As the crowd began pelting stones at the MP’s house, the security forces resorted to tear-gas shelling around 8.30pm, officials said.
A woman, who witnessed the incident unfold, said some people started hitting the posts around 8 pm, asking everyone in the neighbourhood to come out.
“We were about to have dinner. These were people from the neighbouring areas who had gathered. They seemed to have come prepared for burning the house. They are angry over the death of a Meitei man in Bishnupur yesterday and that our MPs and MLAs are not doing anything. Clashes are going on for more than 20 days and it isn’t stopping,” she said.
The incident comes after Manipur minister Konthoujam Govindas’s house in Bishnupur was attacked during the ongoing ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities that has already claimed about 75 lives.
The late-night development came even as Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier appealed for peace in Manipur and said he would visit the northeastern state soon and talk to people of both communities involved in the violence.
Also read: Union Home Minister Amit Shah to visit violence-hit Manipur, ‘but peace first’