Houses of 4 more MLAs torched in Manipur, agitators attempt to storm CM's ancestral residence
Imphal, Nov 17: Irate mobs set fire to the residences of three more BJP legislators, one of whom is a senior minister, and a Congress MLA in various districts of Imphal Valley even as security forces foiled the attempt of agitators to storm the ancestral residence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, officials said.
The fresh incidents of violent protests took place on Saturday night even as indefinite curfew was clamped after people, agitated by the killing of three women and children each by militants in Jiribam district, attacked the residences of three state ministers and six MLAs earlier on Saturday.
Enraged people torched the houses of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam at Ningthoukhong, Hiyanglam's BJP MLA Y Radheshyam at Langmeidong Bazar, Wangjing Tentha's BJP MLA Paonam Brojen in Thoubal district and Khundrakpam's Congress MLA Th Lokeshwar in Imphal East district, the officials said.
The legislators and their family members were not at home when the angry mob stormed their residential compounds, vandalised properties and set the houses on fire, police said, adding the houses were partially burnt in the incidents.
Fire services rushed to the spots and doused the blaze before the flames engulfed the entire houses.
On Saturday night, protesters also advanced towards Biren Singh's ancestral residence at Luwangshangbam in Imphal East but were stopped short of 100-200 metres by security forces.
Security personnel, including Assam Rifles, BSF and state forces, fired several rounds of tear gas shells, rubber bullets to disperse the protesters and foiled the attempt to damage Singh's house, officials said.
Later, protesters burnt tyres on the main road leading to Biren Singh's residence and piled iron roads to prevent vehicular movement.
Protests continued till around 11 pm in Mantripukhri area, some 3-4 km from the CM's ancestral home.
Officials told PTI that many of the protesters had come in vehicles from other constituencies, and not from Heingang assembly seat, which the CM represented.
On Sunday morning, the situation remained calm but tense in all five districts of Imphal Valley, where an indefinite curfew has been imposed and internet services suspended following violent protests after the discovery of the bodies of six persons, three women and children each, allegedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam.
Piles of burnt debris remained on the roads of state capital Imphal, a day after the violent protests.
Security forces have intensified patrolling in parts of Imphal and increased deployment at many of the residences of legislators which were attacked on Saturday as well as all major roads leading to the secretariat, state BJP headquarters and Raj Bhavan.
On Saturday, agitators ransacked the houses of three legislators, including that of Biren Singh's son-in-law R K Imo, who is also a BJP MLA, and set their properties on fire while security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters in different parts of Imphal, police said.
Among the ministers whose residences were stormed by the protesters are Sapam Ranjan, L Susindro Singh and Y Khemchand, an official said.
Curfew was imposed for an indefinite period in Imphal East and West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Kakching districts of Imphal Valley "due to developing law and order situation", he said.
The state administration suspended internet services temporarily in seven districts in the wake of protesters storming the residences of state ministers and MLAs, another official said.
Besides Imo, agitators also vandalised the properties of BJP legislator Sapam Kunjakesore and MLA Joykishan Singh.
They also gheraoed the houses of JD(U) MLA of Wangkhei seat, T Arun, and BJP legislator Karam Shyam of Langthabal.
Protesters, who had come to meet Keishamthong's Independent legislator Sapam Nishikanta Singh at his residence on Tiddim Road in Imphal West, targeted the office building of a local newspaper owned by him after they were informed that the legislator was not present in the state. The mob destroyed some temporary structures in front of the office building, another official said.
Agitators also set tyres on fire in the middle of a road in Thangmeiband area, just 200 metres away from the assembly building.
At Keisampat Bridge, tear gas shells were fired to disperse protesters who were attempting to march towards several buildings, including Raj Bhavan, and the secretariat, police said.
Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi ordered temporary suspension of internet and mobile data services in the "territorial jurisdiction of currently affected districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur for two days with effect from 5.15 pm on Saturday.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an apex body representing civil society organisations of Imphal Valley, demanded military action on militants within 24 hours.
At night, miscreants set fire to at least two churches and three houses in Jiribam town, officials said.
"There have been reports of further arson and the burning of additional structures by miscreants, but these claims have not yet been independently verified," officials told PTI.
The bodies of the 10 Kuki-Zo youths killed in a gunfight with security personnel in Jiribam were on Saturday airlifted to Churachandpur from Assam's Silchar town, where the autopsies were conducted.
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UP man gets life term for electrocuting mentally challenged wife to death in Bareilly
Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
