An irate mob tried storming Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s ancestral home in Imphal East’s Heingang area on Thursday evening, the police told Scroll.
The security forces managed to disperse the mob before they could enter the house’s compounds, said Pramesh Arambam, the additional police superintendent of the Imphal East district.
“Situation is now under control,” said Arambam, who is part of the security detail deployed in the area.
There were initially about 500 to 600 people in the mob, The Indian Express reported.
Officials said that the mob had been camping outside Singh’s home since the afternoon.
Singh contests from the Heingang Assembly constituency.
On Thursday evening, the police said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that news of the chief minister’s personal residence being mobbed was false and misleading.
An unidentified police officer said that no one stays at the house now, though it is guarded round the clock, PTI reported.
The Rapid Action Force and state police personnel on Thursday fired several rounds of tear gas shells to force the mob to disperse. The authorities also switched off electricity in the entire area to prevent the mob from attacking the house.
On Wednesday, effigies of the chief minister were burnt in Imphal as students from the city protested against the deaths of a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old young man, suspected to have been killed by Kuki militants.
The reports of the alleged killings of the two teenagers have triggered a fresh round of violence in Manipur where conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki communities broke out on May 3.
The state has since recorded over 200 deaths and nearly 60,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes. Manipur has also reported cases of rape and murder, and mobs have looted police armoury and set several homes on fire despite the heavy presence of central security forces.
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