Congress MLA’s home set on fire in Manipur

The violence in Manipur remains unabated as the house of an MLA was set on fire in the early hours of June 4. On June 4 at around 2:30 AM, two villages in the Sugnu area of the Kakching district, including the home of MLA Ranjit, were set on fire by the miscreants. Sources claim that the MLA’s home was partially burned. Ranjit belongs to the Indian National Congress.

Earlier on June 3, at around 4.30 pm, four Manipur MLAs, including three from the ruling BJP—U Deben, M Rameshwor, Y Radheshyam—were allegedly detained at the Sugnu Bazar Mahila Congress building by irate locals. Ranjit was the lone non-BJP MLA among the four. The MLAs were led by Minister Y Kemchand, who was apparently given permission to leave so that he could meet Chief Minister N Biren Singh to request the relocation of the Assam Rifles camp from Sugnu.   

Fresh incidents of alleged Kuki militants firing towards civilians were also reported in various parts of the state on June 3, despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah's warning to Kuki militants not to violate the ground rule of Suspension of Operation (SoO). Shah concluded his four-day-long visit to the violence-hit state on June 1. 

On June 3, suspected Kuki militants opened fire on civilians, injuring up to 15 people, two of whom are still in critical condition. The injured were admitted at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS). In retaliation, later that night, Manipur Rifles and state police personnel, stationed at the two villages of Phayeng and Kangchup Chingkhong, engaged in a four-plus hour-long firefight that eventually drove the militants back to nearby hills.

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