Union Home Minister Amit Shah has cancelled his scheduled election rallies in Maharashtra as violent protests sweep across Manipur's Imphal Valley, reports news agency.
Amit Shah returns to Delhi after the security situation worsened in Manipur, which saw tensions simmering over after a series of violent incidents, where it reported various cases related to the killing of six civilians, including three women and children, in Jiribam district.
The protests, which had started gaining strength since Saturday, saw angry mobs torching the homes of a few BJP and Congress legislators, as well as a senior state minister, as security forces stumbled to maintain order in the region.
Fresh violence erupts in Manipur
Fresh violent protests erupted 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 residences of three state ministers and six MLAs earlier on Saturday.
Irritated mobs torched the residences of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam at Ningthoukhong, Hiyanglam BJP MLA Y Radheshyam at Langmeidong Bazar, BJP MLA from Wangjing Tentha Paonam Brojen in Thoubal district and Congress MLA from Khundrakpam Th Lokeshwar in Imphal East district said the officials.
Legislator and their family members were not present at home" when the angry mob stormed into the residential complex, vandalised properties and set houses on fire, police said, adding that houses were partly burnt during the incidents.
In another incident, protesters tried to storm the ancestral residence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in Luwangshangbam, Imphal East. But security forces, consisting of Assam Rifles and Border Security Force personnel, used tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse them. The crowd eventually stopped at 100-200 meters from the CM's residence. They however continued to blockade roads for access to Singh's home and set tyres ablaze. They even placed iron rods in roads for blocking traffic movement.