Manipur: Catholic school set on fire; two student leaders held

A classroom block, including the office of the principal, was totally gutted in the arson that took place around 9.50 pm. While over Rs 35 lakh worth of property was damaged in the fire, no one was injured in the incident.

FIRE, fire in catholic school, manipur catholic school, fire in manipur catholic school, manipur fire, student leaders held, indian express

The arson comes in the wake of the diktat imposed by KSO Gunpi block to indefinitely close down the St Joseph School following the failure of the school to revoke suspension order of six students of the school. (Photo: PTI)

Close on the heels of the bomb threat to a catholic school in Imphal, miscreants set on fire catholic-run St Joseph School Thursday night in Sugnu area, Chandel district of Manipur.

A classroom block, including the office of the principal, was totally gutted in the arson that took place around 9.50 pm. While over Rs 35 lakh worth of property was damaged in the fire, no one was injured in the incident.

The police, on Friday, arrested two executive members of the Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) Gunpi block in connection with the incident.

The two suspects have been identified as David Jamminlen Baite and Thangkhalal Haokip, the education secretary and information secretary of the KSO, Gunpi block respectively.

K Jayenta Singh, Inspector General of Police (IGP), said hunt is on for more suspects who could be involved in the arson attack. “We have arrested two executive members of the KSO so far. But, the involvement of the two student leaders is yet to be confirmed as the investigation is in the preliminary stage,” said the IGP.

The closure notice issued by one of the suspects, David Jamminlen Baite, went viral on social media.

Story continues below this ad

During preliminary investigation, Baite has confessed to having issued the closure notice to the school, said the IGP. The suspects have been remanded to police custody for five days.

The Catholic Educational Society Manipur (CESM) vehemently condemned the arson attack terming it “against the act of humanity”.

“It is deeply painful and unfortunate event that the temple of learning, the harbinger of hope could be so brazenly reduced to ashes by some unscrupulous people in the society,” said the director of the CESM, in a statement.