Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, June 02 2010:
A group of abou 25 masked men set on fire the residence of the Minister of Tribal Development, District Council & Hills and Veterinary & Animal Husbandry, DD Thaisii at Tansang Mali village in Senapati district last night, reducing the residence and all the properties worth lakhs of rupees into ashes and rubbles.
The first and the second floor of the three-storeyed building and two outhouses were totally gutted in the fire that took place at about 11.30 pm last night.
However, no human casualty has been reported, police said.
Around 25 masked miscreants burnt down the house after minister's family wake up from sleeping were force to out from the house, family members said.
Minister's wife, his son of three months and two sisters of minister's wife stayed in the house at the time of occurrence of the incident.
The minister himself was not in his residence.
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Florence, one of the sisters of the minister's wife who witnessed the incident said that miscreants intruded into the campus of the residence and knocked the door.
They had already blackout the residence first before waking up family members, she added.
"They (masked miscreants) asked them to leave the house with the warning of inflicting injuries in their act.
With fear, they left the house and took shelter in a house at the neighbourhood, Florence said.
No sooner had they left the house, miscreants caught fire to the two outhouses first which later spread to the main three-storey building, she said recalling the incident.
The unknown persons who did not identified themselves also smashed window panes and doors before torching the structures before burning down by pouring kerosene and petrol.
Important and rare documents relating Purul tribe stored in the house of the minister were left nothing but as residue in the fire burnt incident apart from reducing most of the belongings of the house, kitchen materials, utensils and other luxury items.
Well wishers and relatives of the minister strongly condemned the act of the miscreants terming the arson as heinous crime committed against humanity.
They could not revealed weather the attack on minister's house related with the agitation against ADC election and barring of NSCN (IM) leader Th Muivah in the state.
Police is also yet to established identities of the culprits behind the arson.
However, SP of Senapati district, Nishit Kumar said that after the incident, IRB personnel have been detailed at the house to prevent further untoward incident.
He further maintained that the law and order at the Senapati district is under control.
DD Thaisii, it is pertinent to mention here, was the only Congress candidate who won election from Naga dominated Senapati district in the last Assembly election held in 2007 .
He defeated his nearest UNC backed independent candidate in the fray from the Karong A/C and become the lone Naga MLA sworn in as Cabinet minister in the SPF government.
The burning down of the residences of the lone Naga minister was amidst UNC and its supporters' diktat to resign all Naga MLAs in which seven independent MLA backed by them had already submitted their resignation but pending with Speaker's office.