Womenfolk attack BSEM staff

Imphal, January 12 (NNN): Hundreds of womenfolk of Kakwa Naorem Leikai who are also members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) against the killing of Dr Kunjabihari, chairman of the State education board, clashed today with the staffs of the education board who were staging sit-in-protest against the killing of the official. The incident occurred when the JAC members came to submit a memorandum over the killing incident to the state chief minister. Manipur education board chairman Dr Kunjabihari was shot dead on Tuesday by faceless armed assailants.
The clash between JAC members and the education board staffs occurred at about 2 pm today when the staffs of Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BSEM) have been staging a sit-in protest in front of the office in the high security zone of Babupara which is strewn with high profile offices like chief minister’s office and his bungalow, police headquarters, auditor general’s office etc.
The womenfolk who had come to submit representation to the chief minister over the killing of Dr. Naorem Kunjabihari, chairman of BSEM, yesterday by unknown armed assailant began attacking the staffers of BSEM, who were staging a sit-in protest in front of its office, apparently because they were miffed and suspicious of staffers over the killing of the chairman.
The lifeless body of the chairman of Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BSEM), Dr. Naorem Kunjabihari, 60, was found shot dead in his office chamber at Babupara in Imphal West yesterday at about 3:30 pm. under suspicious circumstances. According to a source from the family, the death of Dr. Kunjabihari is shrouded in controversy. The appointment of Dr Kunjabihari, some three months ago to the chair of the board after he had served for five years as the secretary of Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSEM), was controversial therefore his untimely dead is suspected to be a sinister ploy of the office staffs in connivance with his rivals in the race for the chairmanship. Senior member of Manipur Peoples’ Party (MPP) and Opposition leader of the Assembly, O Joy expressed similar sentiment in public yesterday after the shocking incident.
The attacking womenfolk disparaged the protesting staffers of BSEM asking, “Was there no men when he (Dr. N Kunjabihari) was being shot at?” and said that there was no need to shed crocodile’s tear by staging a sit-in now.
With the attack mounting with stones being pelted at, the protesting staffers ran for cover inside the office and locked themselves in. The police who were ushering the womenfolk on their way to the chief minister’s office to submit a memorandum were caught off balance even as the womenfolk turned hostile.