AT Photo
Imphal, June 16: Amid tight security within a secure zone, an abandoned house located in Old Lambulane, Imphal, caught fire on Saturday evening.
Police said the abandoned house belonged to the former Chief Secretary of Goa, the late Thangkhopao Kipgen. Kipgen died on March 3, 2005, and the house had been occupied by his family.
The house is located adjacent to the Kuki Inn complex, which is opposite the Manipur Chief Minister’s residence in Babupara, Imphal. The incident occurred at around 5:30 pm on Saturday. Since the outbreak of the ongoing crisis in Manipur, the residents had already left the house.
Manipur fire services rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. As the roof of the house was made of wood with galvanised tin, firefighters took over an hour to extinguish it, assisted by a reinforcement team from Thoubal district.
Officials of the Manipur Fire Service said that, as the house had remained abandoned for over a year, it was hard to extinguish and control the fire. They added that the source of the fire is yet to be known.
The abandoned house is also located just behind the New Manipur Secretariat office building in Babupara, Imphal.
Meanwhile, the presence of high-security forces could be seen around the city.
