The Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh who had held Home portfolio for several years had the taste of the "improved law and order situation" in the state when his own house was burgled and an undisclosed quantum of valuables is believed to have been carted away under the nose of 30 personnel of 3 Bn India Reserve Battalion who were deployed there permanently to guard the house and valuables.
His wife, Landhoni Okram, who is also a Congress MLA came to know of the breaking of the house and loss of valuables on Sunday afternoon only when she had gone there. Officials are clueless about the incident. Sources are tight lipped on the inventory of the valuables believed to have been stolen by the well organised criminals. The three storied building at Athokpam Leikai in Thoubal district, the ancestral home of the Chief Minister, has been under lock and key since all family members are in his official residence in Imphal. However the 30 IRB personnel are deployed there to guard the house.
Director General of Police Saheed Ahmed and other ranking officials rushed there on hearing news of the house breaking on Sunday afternoon. Despite the fact that trained police and forensic experts were pressed into service valuable clues which may be elad to the identity of the criminals could not be established. The police officials who were in a tizzy over the way the house of the Chief Minister was burgled prevented lensmen from taking photographs and asked the reporters not to publish the report. However some lensmen managed to take some photographs clandestinely and these photographs appeared in the local newspapers on Monday.
The 30 personnel of 3 Bn IRB have been transferred away since they were not aware of the house breaking under their nose. Sources said that police officials are working round the clock to track down the criminals.
