The Imphal residence of Union minister of state for external affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh was set on fire by a mob on Thursday night, prompting him to say it reflected the total failure of law and order in Manipur.

The strife-torn state is ruled by his party, the BJP.

Neither Singh nor his family members were present when the attack took place. The minister was in Kerala to attend a political programme.

A closer view of the damage at the minister’s house on Friday. PTI picture

The mob descended on Singh’s two-storey house in Kongba Nandeibam in Imphal East district around 11pm and set it on fire, damaging the ground and first floors.

Singh, who had won the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 on a BJP ticket and was made a Union minister in July 2021, told news agency ANI on Friday: “I would like to focus that the law and order condition in the state of Manipur... totally failure.

“The existing government could not maintain peace despite the central government sending a lot of protection and rapid action force (RAF). I do not know how the state mechanism has failed, I feel like that.”

A charred vehicle at the minister’s house on Friday. PTI picture

Manipur has had a BJP-led government since 2017.

The mob, which roamed around the town late on Thursday, also clashed with security forces, officials said. Singh told PTI Video: “I am trying to bring peace and stop (the) violence since May 3 (when ethnic clashes began in the state)…. This is all a misunderstanding between two communities. The government has set up a peace committee, the process is on. Civil society leaders are sitting together.”

The minister, in Kochi to attend a party event, has cancelled all his programmes in Kerala to return home.

Singh said: “That (the house) is (built with) my own hard-earned money. I am not corrupt. No one is corrupt in this regime....”

He said the government would talk to all communities and find a way out.

An attempt had been made to attack Singh’s house on the evening of May 25 but it was foiled by security personnel. This time the attackers far outnumbered the forces, sources said.

The Union minister’s residence was the fourth to have been torched in Imphal since Wednesday evening.

Clashes between the Meiteis and the Kukis have left over 110 people dead and displaced 60,000. Incidents of arson and firing have continued despite the deployment of around 40,000 army and central paramilitary forces in Manipur to restore normality, a point Singh stressed.

Flames engulf an old warehouse owned by a retired bureaucrat at Palace Compound in Imphal East district. PTI picture

He told ANI: “I feel shocked. I never expected such attitude and activities from my fellow citizens. Everything was normal (on Thursday), suddenly a crowd came and attacked, I was told. Even fire brigades cannot enter the area. The people blocked it. I do not (know) why. For what reasons they are attacking me...?

Singh said Union home minister Amit Shah had called him after the attack.