IMPHAL: The house of Manipur PWD Minister Konthoujam Govindas in Bishnupur district was vandalised by an irate mob on Wednesday, claiming that the state government has not yet taken sufficient and appropriate steps to protect locals from armed militants belonging to another community. Govindas, who also holds the Youth Affairs and Sports portfolio, is a senior BJP member.
However, the minister and his family members were not present at the house when around 100 agitated people, mostly women, ransacked the house in the Ningthoukhong Bazar area of Bishnupur district and damaged the gate, windows, a few pieces of furniture, electronic gadgets, and vehicles parked at his residence. This is the first time a minister's and a senior BJP leader's house has been vandalised after ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki community people broke out in Manipur on May 3, claiming the lives of at least 71 people and injuring over 300.
Army and paramilitary forces led by senior officials have been deployed to control the situation in the district. In separate incidents, fresh tension erupted in Bishnupur district after reports of arson and attacks by militants in the intervening nights of Tuesday and Wednesday at Tera Khongsangbi, while a large number of women blocked vehicular movement on Tiddim Road, including those of security forces.
On Wednesday, two people sustained bullet injuries after being fired on by suspected armed militants from the hillside in the Thamnapokpi foothill. (IANS)
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