As the communal tension continues to intensify in the northeastern state of Manipur, the house of Union Minister RK Ranjan Singh was attacked by a mob of over 1,000 people last night (June 15).
Officials said that Singh was not at the house in Imphal at the time of the incident.
As per media reports, despite the curfew in Imphal, the agitated mob managed to reach the minister's house at Kongba where nine security escorts personnel, five security guards and eight additional guards were reportedly on duty at the time of the incident.
According to a security personnel, the mob, which contained around 1200 people, threw petrol bombs from all directions during the attack.
"We couldn't prevent the incident as the mob was overwhelming and we couldn't control the situation. They threw petrol bombs coming in from all directions.. from the bye lane behind the building and from the front entrance. so we simply couldn't control the mob," said, Escort Commander L Dineshwor Singh.
The Minister of State for External Affairs and Education RK Ranjan Singh last month held a meeting with a group of intellectuals from Manipur's Meitei and Kuki communities.
The minister also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "identify and condemn" local politicians who could be responsible for the trouble in Manipur.
"We are not to blame any community or ethnic group... The harmonious relations among ethnic groups are often violated by leaders for getting their political ends. Myopic politicians often play with the lives and emotions of the common people... They have done enough damage to society. Their tactics trigger unimaginable losses, for instance the present ethnic inferno. Such local leaders must be identified and condemned," Mr Singh wrote in the letter to PM Modi on May 21.
Clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
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