Imphal, April 13: Police today slapped an attempt-to-murder charge on the three sons of veteran Manipur politician Okram Joy Singh.

The three siblings ? Deban, Projen and Manaobi Singh? allegedly assaulted two members of a faction of the Manipur People’s Party (MPP) and the officer-in-charge of Imphal police station. Joy Singh was the president of the MPP until recently.

The fracas was apparently over the election of a new party president.

A police team arrested the brothers after . Jugondro Singh, a senior functionary of the faction opposed to Joy Singh, registered a complaint against the trio. Additional security personnel were deployed at the party office to prevent reprisal.

The MPP, which is the oldest regional party of Manipur, split into two after Joy Singh, a legislator, refused to recognise the election of L. Borajao Singh as the new party chief. Claiming that the election was “unconstitutional”, the veteran leader refused to hand over charge to his successor.

Acting on a petition filed by Borajao Singh, a civil court later barred Joy Singh and members of his faction from entering the office from Tuesday. Since then, the office has been under lock and key.

Borajao Singh and his supporters today arrived at the office at 11 am, broke open the lock at the gate and the door to the president’s office. They also removed Joy Singh’s nameplate from the door.

Trouble began when Joy Singh’s three sons and his wife Thoibi Devi reached the party office in two vehicles at noon. Witnesses said the three bro-thers first assaulted Jugondro Singh, general secretary (administration) of the MPP. The assault opened a gash in his right eyebrow.

Joy Singh’s sons then allegedly assaulted another party worker.

The police team present at the office complex could not bring the situation under control and additional forces had to be rushed to defuse the situation. A policeman said the accused also hit the officer-in-charge of the city police station, who was leading the reinforcements.

The police finally overpowered the brothers and took them into custody. Though their mother was not arrested, she followed her children to the police station.

In his complaint with the police, Jugondro Singh named all three sons of the former party president as the accused. He accused them of attempting to murder him.

Borajao Singh blamed Joy Singh for the turn of events. “Joy Singh instigated his sons after the court prevented him from entering the party office. My election as president has been recognised by the Election Commission,” he said.