Amid escalating tensions in Manipur’s valley regions, a group of individuals made an attempt to storm the personal residence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, located in Heingang, Imphal East, on Thursday night. Fortunately, the Chief Minister and his family were not present at the residence during the incident.
Around 10:30 pm, the attempted breach was thwarted by security personnel. According to reports, the initial crowd consisted of approximately “500-600” people. Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel stationed at the site responded with retaliatory force, dispersing the crowd before they could enter the premises.
Notably, Heingang is the Assembly constituency represented by Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
The valley areas of the state, which are primarily inhabited by the Meitei community, have been witnessing heightened tensions and widespread protests since Tuesday. These protests were triggered by the circulation of two photographs suggesting that two Meitei youths, Hijam Linthoingami (17) and Phijam Hemjit (20), who had been missing since July 6, had been killed by militants.
On the previous day, student protesters had attempted to march towards the CM Bungalow and Raj Bhavan, prompting security personnel to employ tear gas shelling to disperse them. However, representatives of the students were eventually allowed to meet with the Governor and the Chief Minister.
Later in the afternoon, a mob set fire to the BJP Khongjom Mandal office in Thoubal district as tensions continued to escalate in the region.