Day 1 of festival: Manipur buses not allowed entry

A controversy broke out during the inauguration of the fifth edition of the Shirui Lily festival in Ukhrul town of Manipur on Tuesday as central security forces removed the Manipur State Transport signage from government buses, triggering a suspension of the services later in the day.

- Thomas Ngangom

IMPHAL: A controversy broke out during the inauguration of the fifth edition of the Shirui Lily festival in Ukhrul town of Manipur on Tuesday as central security forces removed the Manipur State Transport signage from government buses, triggering a suspension of the services later in the day.

An MST bus carrying journalists who were travelling to cover the five-day festival was reportedly stopped by personnel of the MAHAR Regiment and the Border Security Force (BSF) at Gwaltabi in Imphal East district. The BSF initially asked them to cover the MST signage, and later stopped movement of the buses.