18 UNACO employees injured in mob attack
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, April 02 2015 :
At least 18 staff members of UNACO Group, Khongman, Imphal were injured, two of them seriously, when a violent mob attacked them at Khongman Mangjil in Imphal East on Thursday.
The incident happened around 9 am when volunteers of Oriental Club, Khongman Mangjil tried to stop some 300 staff members of the United Aeroma Commercial Company Limited (UNACO) Group from entering Lisam Leikai in Khongman where a stalemate situation has been prevailing for weeks between the company's managing director and the locals.
Reports said UNACO MD Irabanta had recently expelled three students from Lisam Leirak, Khongman from UNACO School after a standoff ensued between him and locals of Lisam Leirak over former's failure to repair a lane which has been left in dilapidated condition by heavily-loaded vehicles used in the construction of a new office building of the company.
The company's staff members who were armed with stones attempted to attack the local club building and that they even challenged members of the club, Oriental Club, Mangjil general secretary G Phantomas told reporters.
Enraged, a group of local residents attacked and chased the UNACO staff in all directions, injuring 18 of them.
Among them, two suffered serious injuries in the mob attack.
They are undergoing treatment at hospital.
Thongju constituency MLA Th Bishwajit who rushed to the site intervened and later managed to control the mob.
Several of the UNACO employees fled the spot leaving behind their vehicles.
A team of Irilbung Police Station also came to the site.
Protesting against the attempt of the company's staff members to destroy the Oriental Club building, a public meeting was convened.
The meeting decided to lodge a complaint with the Irilbung Police to file an FIR against UNACO Group in connection with the incident.
It further decided to bar UNACO staff from passing through Khongman road until the stalemate between the Lisam Leikai and the company.
MLA Bishwajit said the company's managing director is not heeding to the repeated request to settle the impasse.
But he appealed to the company's MD. Meanwhile, Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) has flayed the managing director of UNACO and protesting local residents over banning of UNACO School, Khongman Zone-III in Imphal East.
A statement of DESAM also appealed to the local residents of Lisam Leirak in Khongman to lift the ban being enforced on UNACO School in the interest of all students.
It warned the authority of the private school that it should not spoil students' career, prohibit any student to take admission in the school and expel any of the students studying in the institute.
In a separate release, DESAM condemned the banning of all Catholic Schools in Imphal by KCP (MC).
DESAM also demanded the Manipur Government to announce its clear stance in public over the issue at the earliest.
The release informed that DESAM will organize a meeting on April 6 at Little Flower School Imphal to discuss the issue on banning of Catholic Schools.
It appealed to all Catholic School authorities, representatives of guardian committees of all schools and guardians of all students to attend the meeting.