NEW DELHI, Dec 17 ? Suspected underground outfits holding the Vice Chancellor and Registrar of Manipur University captive have demanded Rs 1 crore as ransom. The Central Government today came in for attack in the Lok Sabha for the development in Manipur, with members urging the Centre to take steps to get the two Manipur University officials released.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour by Mohan Singh of Samajvadi Party (SP), he alleged that abductors have demanded ransom amount from the family of the Registrar of the University. Pleading with the Home Ministry to act soon, the SP MP criticised the Central Government for claiming that the situation in the State has improved. It was only the other day that the Prime Minister visited the State and declared Manipur University as a Central University.
Joining issues, VK Malhotra, BJP, asserted that the Government should not be insensitive to the matter, demanding a statement from the Home Minister. Students and teachers of Manipur University are on strike in protest against the kidnapping of its Vice-Chancellor Bijoy Singh and Registrar R K Ranjan. The duo had been abducted at gunpoint from a place near the university at Canchipur, about six km from Imphal, on December 13 and their whereabouts were still unknown.