Explosion rocks Manipur village, no injuries

Imphal, Oct 30 A moderate explosion rocked a village in Imphal West district on Wednesday evening, triggering panic among the villagers, officials said.

A police official said that the explosion occurred near the house of one Okram Haridas in Kadangband Part-two village under the Lamshang police station area.

He said that none was, however, injured in the explosion.

The cause of the explosion and who is behind the incident is not yet known.

Senior police officials along with additional security forces have rushed to the area and launched a search operation to nab the perpetrators.

Many panic-stricken villagers moved to safe areas soon after the explosion, the police official said.

Local people claimed that the explosion was caused by a drone. However, there is no confirmation about the use of drones behind the blast.

Kadangband village located near the foothills of the tribal-dominated Kangpokpi district, which recently witnessed several incidents and attacks.

The Kadangband village is situated six km away from Koutruk village where on September 1 the state's first drone bomb attack killed a 31-year-old woman and injured 12 others including the victim’s daughter.

Wednesday's explosion took place in the same Imphal West district within three days after the recovery of a powerful live hand grenade, which was found at the gates of Ghanapriya Women's College, located less than 100 metres from the Raj Bhavan here on Monday.

Police have yet to find out the clues about the recovery of the live hand grenade.

A police official said that the recovery of the live hand grenade in front of a prominent women’s college in an important location triggered panic among the people in Imphal West district.

The women's college is located less than 100 metres from the Governor's house and 300 metres from Chief Minister N. Biren Singh's official residence and Manipur Police headquarters.

The recovery of the hand grenade occurred amid several educational institutions in the Imphal Valley reportedly receiving extortion threats.

Source: IANS