Manipur schoolgirls cook up abduction story, stoke tension
The Hindu
The police in Manipur’s Bishnupur district launched a combing operation after three minor girls reported the abduction of 17 school-bound children, only to find out later that they had cooked up the story to escape punishment for bunking classes
GUWAHATI
The police in ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s Bishnupur district on August 28 launched a combing operation after three minor girls reported the abduction of 17 school-bound children by masked gunmen.
Hundreds of people and members of other security agencies in Bishnupur and adjoining districts joined the search too — only to find out later in the day that the girls, in their early teens, had cooked up the story to escape punishment for bunking classes in school.
Bishnupur, a Meitei-dominated district in Imphal Valley, has been one of the worst affected in the ongoing violence that broke out on May 3. It adjoins the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district, also severely hit by the Kuki-Meitei conflict.
Also read | May 3 violence was likely pre-planned: Manipur CM Biren Singh
The trio claimed they were among 20 girls headed to their school in the Kabowakching area when two masked men kidnapped them after offering to take them on a picnic. The spot they referred to is near Nambol, about 16 km from the State’s capital Imphal.
The girls said they sensed trouble and jumped off the moving vehicle.
The Opposition Congress demanded that the government open the Gandhi Vatika Museum, depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and freedom struggle, built at a cost of ₹85 crore in Jaipur’s Central Park last year, during the Congress-led regime in Rajasthan. The museum has not been opened to the public, reportedly because of the administration’s engagements with the State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Almaya Munnettam (Lay People to the Fore), group in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church opposed to the synod-recommended Mass, rejected a circular issued by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil and apostolic administrator Bosco Puthur on June 9 to implement the unified Mass in the archdiocese from July 3.
Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten stated that “not so great decision making” contributed to his side’s defeat to India in the Group-A T20 World Cup clash here on Sunday. The batting unit came apart in the chase, after being well placed at 72 for two. With 48 runs needed from eight overs, Pakistan found a way to panic and lose. “Maybe not so great decision making,” Kirsten said at the post-match press conference, when asked to explain the loss.