Lamjathang Haokip's house attacked for third time
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, August 31 2024: For the third time, the ancestral home of Thadou tribe leader and BJP spokesperson Michael Lamjathang Haokip located at Peniel village in Churachandpur district was attacked and it was torched by suspected armed Kukis, who supported Saturday's protest rally.

According to a reliable source, the incident happened at about 1.30pm when some armed Kukis who supported the protest rally started torching shops located in front of Michael Lamjathang Ha-okip's house anda car parked in the courtyard of his ancestral home.

Soon, many people who joined the protest rally stormed Michael Lamjathang Haokip's house and torched his house and other household properties.

Upon hearing the news, a large team of Churachandpur district police rushed in, controlled the mob and tried to control the fire.

Meanwhile, chief minister N Biren Singh has strongly condemned the torching of Michael Lamjathang Haokip's ancestral house for the third time and said that government will take action against officers who did not ensure security despite warning of threats apart from punishing perpetrators.

In a post on X, Biren said "repeated targeting of our people under the guise of peace rallies is a deeply troubling trend and such acts of provocation will not be tolerated.

We will ensure that those responsible are held accountable" .

Meanwhile, DC Churachandpur has directed SP Churachandpur to conduct an enquiry at the earliest regarding the torching of BJP spokesperson's house at Peniel village and submit a report so that necessary action could be initiated.

Notably, the first attack on Michael Lamjathang Haokip's house happened on May 6, 2023, few days after the eruption of violence on May 3, 2023, and it was allegedly carried out by armed Kukis, who torched some portions of the house and fired some rounds.

Later, Michael Lamjathang Haokip escaped an assassination attempt by armed Kukis.

The second attack on Michael Lamjathang Haokip's house happened on August 25, 2024 at about 10.30pm after he exposed the long violence perpetrated by Kuki supremacists on a local television channel.

The attackers also fired some rounds at Haokip's house after vandalising some portions of the house.

Michael Lamjathang Haokip filed an FIR at the relevant police station regarding the second attack and demanded action against perpetrators he named in the FIR but no action is forthcoming.

Condemning the latest attack, Michael Lamjathang Haokip said the third attack happened due to inaction from law enforcing agencies despite filing FIR and naming perpetrators of the second attack.

In a post on X, Michael Lamjathang Haokip said 'Every peace rally is a violence day for Kukis', 'Down with ultra Kuki extremists and supremacists'.

Meanwhile, Michael Lamjathang Haokip told a national television channel (NDTV) that the brazen daylight attack shows that Kuki supremacists are taking India's laws as jokes and the supremacists run the show in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur.

'They think they will get away with anything now.

They instigate and attack, and then play the victim card in front of the world', he told the television channel.

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