New Delhi, June 16, 2023 (PPI-OT): In the latest incident of violence in Indian disturbed state of Manipur, the house of Indian Union Minister, RK Ranjan Singh, was set on fire by a mob of over 1,000 people in Imphal. Manipur has been witnessing clashes between two groups over the demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

RK Ranjan Singh was not at the house 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, the officials said.

A security force man deployed at the minister’s house told the media 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. He said that around 1,200 people were part of the mob.

This was the second time that the minister’s house was 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. Over 100 people have died since May 3 in clashes between the Meiteis (Hindus), who live in and around the state capital Imphal valley, and the Kuki (Christians) tribe, who are settled in the hills, over the valley residents’ demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

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