Imphal: Unidentified miscreants torched the residence of Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education, Dr RK Ranjan, located at Kongba at around 11 pm Thursday.
High ranking officers of Imphal East District Police reportedly tried to douse the flame as arrival of Manipur Fire Services squad was delayed due to road blockades at various places.
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Unidentified miscreants had earlier attempted to burn down the union minister’s house, following which family members evacuated themselves to a safer place and the house was placed under the guard of police.
Irilbung Police Station has registered a case against the incident.
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Meanwhile, Rapid Action Force personnel detained 10 protesters who tried to block the road passing through Wangkhei Andro Parking last night and later handed them over to Manipur Police. RAF personnel fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the mob and some of them sustained injuries.
In another news, Manipur Police arrested a suspected arsonist at New Lambulane, Checkon, Imphal East District last night. According to police the arrested person is 53-year-old Edward Haokip. Police deployed at New Lambulane, which is a high security area, reportedly noticed a house catching fire at around 9 pm on Thursday and alerted its occupants to open the door but there was no response.
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As police tried to forcefully open the iron shutter of the house, a man who later identified himself as one Edward Haokip, opened the door from inside. Manipur Fire Service had also arrived at the scene and put off the fire. During police interrogation, Edward revealed that he was living alone in the house and locals informed that the house with just one entrance was always kept locked. The police team recovered an Aadhaar Card and passport of a woman named Hatneilhing Haokip and a loaded Single Barrel without any license from the house.
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