Bomb blasts rock Imphal on R-day eve
1st MR complex attacked, three more blasts triggered at Keishamthong, Konung Mamang and Mantripukhri
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, January 25 2013:
Four bomb blasts in a single day rocked Imphal on the eve of Republic Day celebration today.
However, no casualties have been reported in these blasts.
The first bomb blast took place inside the complex of 1st Battalion Manipur Rifles at around 7:30 am here.
The bomb was planted along the western boundary of the complex adjoining the Video Parlour and Gym Khana.
No personnel of the battalion were injured in the blast.
However, the doors and windows of the Gym Khana suffered partial damage in the impact of the blast.
According to police report, the bomb could have been a time bomb using RDX.
The impact of the blast was so great that it could be heard across Imphal city.
The blast area is where the main function of the Republic Day celebration is to take place tomorrow.
As a result, the area had been put on high security alert since the last couple of days and no strangers were allowed to enter without proper verification and frisking .
As soon as the news of the blast spread, a number of reporters rushed in to 1st MR complex.
However, none of them were allowed to get inside the complex and the authorities trying their level best to put the incident under cover, telling that there was no such blast.
Nonetheless, top officials of Manipur Police Department also rushed in to the spot and took stock of the situation.
Bomb experts of the Manipur police were deployed to check possible presence of additional bombs inside the campus.
A combing operation was also conducted in the family line quarters inside the 1st MR campus.
However, there is no report of detention of anyone in the operation and the police are still clueless about the incident.
Not long after the first blast, the second bomb went off at around 10:05 am near Keishamthong Longjam Leirak along Nambul River bank.
The bomb was believed to have been planted by some UG groups just to threaten the authorities concerned as it was planted in the garbage disposal site where no public would enter.
Police report indicated that the second bomb was also a time bomb using RDX.
No one was hurt in the incident.
The third blast occurred at around 11 am near the entrance of Raja Dhumbra High School at Konung Mamang.
No one was also hurt in this incident.
The fourth and final blast was triggered at around 8 pm near the Forest office at Mantripukhri.
The bomb was planted by unidentified persons near the drain of the road between Tsar farm and the Forest office.
No casualties have also been reported in this incident.
As soon as the report of the blast reached, personnel of AR and CRPF arrived at the spot and carried out extensive search operation in the area.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts so far.
However, Co-ordination Committee (CorCoM), an umbrella body of seven UG groups in Manipur, as well as several other UG groups of the Northeast have jointly called a 13-hour general strike in the region to boycott the 64th Republic Day celebrations of India, which falls tomorrow.