Imphal: Bundles of paddy crops, collected from a roughly 1-hectare paddy field, and stored for threshing to extract rice were destroyed in a bonfire set by unknown miscreants in Imphal, Manipur.
The incident occurred at Kharou paddy field, Keirao Bitra, under the jurisdiction of the Irilbung police station in Imphal East district.
The paddy crops, harvested from standing rice plants, were reduced to cinders in the bonfire just before they were to be manually threshed on Tuesday, according to Ningthoujam Dinesh, the owner of the paddy field.
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The report of the paddy crops being set on fire was made by an early riser around 4 am.
Following the report, locals hurried to the paddy field.
However, they were unable to extinguish the fire, as the flames had already wreaked havoc on the rice paddy and its stalks.
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The police have confirmed that a case has been registered in connection with the incident.
N Dinesh also called for an explanation from the miscreants regarding why his paddy crops were destroyed in the fire.
He made an appeal for such undesirable acts not to be repeated in the future.