Guwahati: Fresh tensions prevailed in Imphal and its nearby areas of Manipur following the report of disappearance of two teenagers from Sekmai area of the capital city on Tuesday.
The missing youths have been identified as 16-year-old Maibam Avinash and 19-year-old Ningthoujam Anthony, hailing from Lamshang, a locality in Imphal West district.
Security sources said that the teenagers had gone to the Sekmai area in the Imphal West district on a two-wheeler early on Sunday morning to attend a local function. The two are reported to have gone missing since then.
Local residents suspect the involvement of unidentified miscreants in the disappearance of the two. Lamshang police have registered a missing persons case and initiated an investigation into the matter.
The mobile phones belonging to the missing teenagers were recovered wrapped in a black polythene packet near an oil pump located in the Senapati district, which comes after crossing the Kangpokpi district.
As the news of mobile phones being recovered spread, it has raised the suspicion of missing youth being kidnapped. Locals came out in large numbers in Im,phal demanding immediate intervention from the police to locate and rescue the missing teenagers.
Students from three higher secondary schools in Imphal town organised a rally and held a protest at Keishampat junction, situated in the capital.
In response to the growing tension, residents of Lamshang took to the streets in large numbers and set tyres on fire. They obstructed movement of vehicles with boulders as a mark of protest against the disappearance of the two teenagers. Police resorted to tear shell firing at some places to disperse the protesting crowds. Few protestors were also injured.
