Army foils attempt to trigger blast at HQ
Four bombs found on Republic Day
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, January 27 2010: At least four bombs including one at the gate of the headquarters of the 57th Mountain Division at Leimakhong in the outskirt of Imphal were discovered by police and security forces yesterday even as the Republic Day celebrations were in progress.

Red Shield Division claimed to have foiled another attempt by KCP (MC) Lanheiba "to target innocent civilians of Leimakhong bazar".

The bomb fitted to a scooter was found at Gate No.2 of the headquarters of 57 Mtn Divn at Leimakhong, where security check is conducted, at about 11 am yesterday.

The underground KCP(MC) Lanheiba group had claimed on January 25 that cadres of the outfit's Kanglei Pheengang Lanmee (KFL) had planted and tried to blast the bomb at Leimakhong Army HQ.

The group had also planted two bombs near the Commando Complex near Minuthong in Imphal West district on the eve of the Republic Day.

Three police commandos were reportedly injured in the explosions.

Army bomb experts along with explosive materials and scooter

A team of state police bomb disposal squad defused and disposed off the IED later.

The IED which weighed around 10 kg was found in the tool box of the scooter in which two mobile phones were also found fitted.

The mobile handsets devised to trigger the blast were reportedly found switched off apparently because of battery down.

Sources observed that the battery of the mobile phone might have been affected by the rainfall which occurred that night.

A team of state police bomb squad defused the IED found fitted to the Bajaj Super scooter (MN1-H-8510) of dark grey colour belonging to Emulson Thakur, son of Jasoyanta Thakur of Liwa Jingsing village of Chandel district.

According to a press note from the PIB (Defence Wing), an IED planted in a Scooter was discovered and diffused by the troops of Red Shield Division after a search operation was launched at Leimakhong bazar based on specific information to sensitise the area on January 25.Tracker dogs of the Army pointed towards the Scooter which was suspiciously placed in front of one the shops of the market.

The scooter was laden with huge quantity of explosive which would have caused a major calamity to the civilians living in Leimakhong, said the release.

"This successful action by the SF once again highlights the fact that the Militant outfits have no concern for the lives of the local people and could go to any lengths for their nefarious designs.

The Army on the other hand values the lives of civilians and will do its best to bring normalcy in the State of Manipur", said the release.

On the other hand, hand grenades were also detected from three other places, near the bridge at Lilong along the Indo-Myanmar section of NH-39, Kiyamgei bridge in Imphal East district and at Sielmat bridge near Light House in Churachandpur district.

The hand grenade at Lilong bridge was detected at about 7 am and that at Kiyamgei Bridge was discovered at about 9.40 am yesterday.

The hand grenade at Light House in Churachandpur district was disposed off by the troops of 140 Battalion BSF.