Law and order condition in Manipur a total failure, says MoS RK Ranjan

In a serious indictment of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Government in Manipur, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, RK Ranjan Singh, has said that 'the law and order situation in Manipur is a total failure.'

Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan is a a BJP Lok Sabha member from Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency.

The Minister made the statement while speaking to ANI at Kerela after his private residence at Kongba Ucheckon under Irilbung Police Station, Imphal-East district, was set on fire on Thursday (June 15) night.

He said the State government could not maintain peace and normalcy in the State even though the Centre has sent lots of Central para-military forces and Rapid Action Forces.

As per reports,  the mob started gathering at the gate of the MP’s residence at around 10:30 pm and later enter the residence at around 11 pm. Ranjan house was torched including his private vehicles and security escort vehicles while other makeshift structures inside the campus were also burnt down.

The union minister and his family members were not at home while the incident took place.

Speaking to media, Ranjan expressed that he was shocked on hearing the news about burning of his private house in the heart of the Capital city, Imphal, and stated that he never expect such kind of unwanted attitude and activities from his fellow netizens of the State. He urged that such incident do not recur in future.

Ranjan also said the way the mob attacked his residence seemed to be an attempt of his life if they happen to be at his residence during the time of the incident. It was the second instance where his residence has been under attack, Ranjan said and added that he could manage to convince the mob along with the help of security personnel during the previous attack.

Stating that even the fire brigade could not enter the area as the people blocked it, the Minister said he could not think of any reason why the mob attack his house. He, however, informed that in all the process he has been trying to bring normalcy in the State by negotiating with the central leadership and his colleagues though such unwanted incident happened on him.

It is to be mentioned that arsonists are rampant in Imphal valley since the violence in the State broke out on May 3, 2023. Several houses and official residences were torched and burnt down amid tight security in the capital city.

The incident of burning down of RK Ranjan's residence is the third one where a large mob resorted violent attacks on the people's representatives.

On May 3, when the violent began, the house of a cabinet minister in Manipur government, Letpao Haokip, was completely burnt down and on June 13, the official residence of Nemcha kipgen, who is also the lone woman cabinet minister in the State, was also burnt down by a mob. All the houses of the people's representatives belong to the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which rules the Centre and the State.