In yet another episode of pre-poll violence in Manipur, a bomb explosion took place on January 19.
About the incident:
Just after the midnight hours at around 2:30 am on January 19, a bomb thrown into the house of one K. Loken at Arapti village in the Keirao Assembly constituency in Imphal east district.
The bomb fell inside the bedroom of Mr. Loken’s boy who was fortunately able to escape without getting injured. However, the explosion caused damage to some household items.
Sources say that the explosion came at a time when security has been beefed up ahead of the Republic Day and state assembly polls.
DGP Manipur P Doungel and subordinate officers rushed to the spot for inspection and a case has been registered at Irilbung police station.
Current status:
Investigation is underway as the Police have registered a case. No individual has been arrested yet.
Search operation by Manipur Police
On January 19, police carried out house-to-house searches at various places in the valley districts as part of the security measures implemented ahead of the Republic Day and Manipur assembly polls scheduled on February 27 and March 3.
District superintendent of police Amrita Sinha stated that the police received specific inputs on the presence of underground cadres intending to extort money from trucks plying on Imphal-Dimapur road near Changoubung village and shops in and around the area. A team from Kangpokpi police station rushed there and arrested the duo.
Meanwhile, Kangpokpi district police on Tuesday arrested two suspected cadres of UKLA, a Kuki militant group, for allegedly extorting money from three goods-laden trucks in the Kuki-dominated district. The UKLA is not included in the list of nearly 20 Kuki militants groups of the state that signed the Suspension of Operation, a tripartite ceasefire agreement with the state government and Centre
Protest against “police inaction” relating to shooting to death of college student:
In the meantime, women in the Heirok constituency in the Thoubal district are protesting against the “police inaction” relating to the shooting to death of a college student in front of his parents. They have been staging sit-in protests and taking demonstrations to enter the police station.
Under pressure from the public six persons had surrendered to the police. One of the surrendered youth is a younger brother of the sitting BJP MLA of the constituency.
The women activists said that the police had not recovered even the murder weapon. They are also demanding the closure of the police station saying that the villagers would do the work of the police.
Recently, in another barbaric incident, a policeman and his cousin had been gunned down in the Wangoi constituency.
Chief Minister N. Biren, who promptly visited the houses of the two victims, said, “It is an attack on the BJP members. No stone will be left unturned to nab the masked killers.” However the culprits have not been identified nor arrested.
It is to be mentioned that in the recent times terrorism has become a global phenomenon and most of the countries, whether developed or developing, are facing terror activities.
Assam, 2008 bomb blast:
The worst was the 2008 bomb blast in Assam that cost the lives of 81 individuals in the city of Guwahati.
Dozens of suspects were interrogated within the first 24 hours. An official in the police department said, “We are making good headway in our investigations and should be able to zero in on the people or groups involved in the serial bombings.
Two persons from Nagaon district were arrested in connection with the attacks. Asib Mohammed Nizami and Zulfikar Ali were the owners of two vehicles in which the bombs were planted in the Ganeshguri area of Guwahati and Bongaigaon.