President-inaugurated war memorial plaque missing in Manipur, FIR filed

Imphal: An FIR was on Wednesday lodged by former Manipur minister and chief of Khongjom War Memorial Trust M Hemanta stating that the inaugural memorial stone inscription, unveiled by President Pranab Mukherjee last Saturday, was missing.

Mukherjee had unveiled the plaque, having his name embossed on it, to mark the inauguration of the War Memorial Monument-cum-Tourist Centre as part of the 125th anniversary of Khongjom Day celebrations which marked the last battle of the Anglo-Manipuri war of 1891.

Hemanta, after filing the FIR at Khongjom police station, told PTI that the complaint named unknown miscreants who were responsible for the incident which came to light on April 24.

Hemanta, who is also a spokesman of BJP Manipur Pradesh Committee, said he made an on-the-spot inspection of the site after seeing media report on April 24 that the plate had fallen off from his wooden structure in which it was attached to.

However, he lodged the complaint on behalf of the Trust but not on behalf of BJP, the former Sports minister said.

Hemanta further informed that another memorial stone plaque, inaugurated by former president VV Giri in 1972 at Khongjom, had also disappeared.