Union Minister RK Ranjan Singh's House Set On Fire In Manipur's Imphal

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Union Minister RK Ranjan Singh was not at the house at the time of the incident, officials said.

New Delhi:

The house of a Union Minister was attacked by a mob of over 1,000 people in Manipur last night, in the latest incident of violence in the northeast state which has been witnessing clashes between two groups over the demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. Union Minister RK Ranjan Singh was not at the house in Imphal at the time of the incident, officials said.

The mob managed to reach the minister's house at Kongba despite a curfew in Imphal. There were nine security escorts personnel, five security guards and eight additional guards on duty at the minister's residence at the time of the incident.

A security personnel at the minister's house said that the mob 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," L Dineshwor Singh, Escort Commander, said.

The escort commander said that around 1200 people were part of the mob.

This is the second time that the minister's house has been attacked by a mob. During the attack in May, the security personnel fired in the air to disperse the mob.

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.

The violence in Manipur was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

Meiteis are majority community in Manipur followed by tribal communities like Nagas and Kukis.

Last month, RK Ranjan Singh, who is Minister of State for External Affairs and Education, held a meeting with a group of intellectuals from Manipur's Meitei and Kuki communities to discuss how to bring peace in the violence-hit northeast state. 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.

Over 70 people have died since May 3 in clashes between the Meiteis, who live in and around the state capital Imphal valley, and the Kuki tribe, who are settled in the hills, over the valley residents' demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.