Mob torches Manipur minister's godown, tries to burn down residence
Imphal (PTI): A group of people has set on fire a private godown of Manipur minister L Susindro at Chingarel in Imphal East district, reducing it to ashes, police said on Saturday.
An attempt was also made to torch another property of the consumer and food affairs minister and his residence at Khurai in the same district on Friday night but timely intervention prevented it.
Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells till midnight to prevent the mob from gheraoing his Khurai residence, police said.
No casualty was reported in the incident.
Earlier, the official quarters of the state's woman minister Nemcha Kipgen at Lamphel area in Imphal West district was set on fire by unidentified people on the night of June 14. A house belonging to Union Minister RK Ranjan Singh was attacked and attempts were made to burn it down the next day.
More than 100 people have lost their lives and a large number of houses were torched rendering many people homeless in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in the northeastern state so far.
Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals - Nagas and Kukis - constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
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West Asia war: Vessel carrying 20,000 tonnes of LPG reaches Gujarat crossing Strait of Hormuz
Kandla (Gujarat) (PTI): A vessel carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) arrived at Deendayal Port Authority in Kandla in Gujarat after crossing the Strait of Hormuz amid the West Asia crisis, officials said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged MV SYMI started its journey from Qatar and docked at the port in Kandla around 11.30 pm on Saturday after crossing the Strait of Hormuz on May 13, they added.
Since early March, 13 India-flagged vessels, comprising 12 LPG tankers and one crude oil tanker, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.
It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes. It has resulted in one of the worst energy crisis the world has seen in recent decades.
Incidentally, at a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) on safeguarding energy and supply flows, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Parvathaneni Harish said targeting commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is "unacceptable".
On May 13, an India-flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman.
Omani authorities rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel sailing from Somalia, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike.
