IMPHAL: A school was set ablaze in Manipur‘s Kakching district on Tuesday night by unidentified miscreants.
Properties worth over Rs 10 lakhs have been destroyed in the fire, officials said on Wednesday.
The school that was set ablaze on Tuesday night at around 11.30 pm was identified as Tokpaching High school constructed atop the Tokpaching hillock under the Kakching police station, the police said.
Three rooms – one occupied by the school headmaster and its two adjacents were reduced to cinders in the fire.
Several items inside the rooms including 10 computer sets, officials’ documents, tables, chairs, almirahs, desks, benches, and several important books were also destroyed in the fire, officials said.
Salam Neta, the school management committee secretary told the media that it would be the handiwork of drug and alcohol users.
He also appealed to the officials concerned with the state government for reconstructions of the buildings at the earliest for conducting normal classes.
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The classes of the school remained closed due to the burning down of the three school rooms on Wednesday.
Established in 1972, the school had hundreds of students enrolled in different levels, officials said.
An elderly woman namely Dukanchaobi Devi, a resident of the Tokpaching village said that the acts of setting afire to the school building are of poor ethics and lax standards.
She appealed to the concerned authorities to arrest those involved in the crime and booked them under the law of the country.
The police said that a case has been registered and attempts are to arrest those involved in the crime.
No one or group claims responsibility for the torching of the school building so far.