A mob attempted to assault the vacant ancestral residence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, situated on the outskirts of the state capital Imphal, despite a security lockdown in the region. Security forces effectively repelled the mob by firing warning shots into the air. Manipur Police, via X (formerly Twitter), refuted claims of the Chief Minister’s personal house being mobbed, deeming them false and misleading.
It’s worth noting that Mr. Singh resides in a separate, heavily guarded official residence in the heart of Imphal.
According to a police officer, “There was an attempt to attack the Chief Minister’s ancestral house at Heingang locality in Imphal. Security forces stopped the mob around 100-150 meters away from the house.” Although the house is guarded around the clock, no one resides in it.
He added, “Two groups of people came from different directions and approached the Chief Minister’s ancestral house, but they were stopped.”
To disperse the mob, the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and state police personnel fired multiple rounds of tear gas shells. Authorities also cut off electricity to the entire area to reduce visibility and impede the progress of the protesters. Additional barricades were set up near the house.
Protesters set tires ablaze on a nearby road, and while ambulances were present, there have been no reports of injuries.
This incident occurred late at night, following protests by students over the alleged killing of two teenagers by insurgents. The students had been demonstrating against what they perceived as the Manipur government’s unjustified delay in restoring normalcy and apprehending the killers of the two students, whose bodies were seen in a leaked photograph. On Wednesday, many of the protesting students were hospitalized, alleging that they were met with force from Manipur Police and the central paramilitary Rapid Action Force (RAF), including lathis, rubber bullets, and tear gas.
Police countered the students’ allegations, stating that they were attacked with sharp projectiles and that delayed action could have resulted in destructive behavior by the mob. Police sources released photos showing metal objects that they claimed were thrown at them by the students.
BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh posted on X that the state government had formed a committee to investigate alleged excesses committed by the security forces against students.
