Five policemen injured in blast in Imphal

Five police personnel including an officer were injured in a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Manipur capital Imphal on Tuesday morning.

The blast occured when a police team led by an additional superintendent of police was waiting for a disposal squad after detection of a bomb around 9.20 am at Thangal Bazar, a busy area in Imphal West. No militant group has claimed responsibility so far for the explosion.

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh, who visited the blast site said security officials has been instructed to nab those involved in the attack. "The injury the policemen and our commando personnel sustained is not very serious but we have asked the security agencies to step up efforts to prevent similar incidents. We will not allow similar incident to happen," he said while condemning the attack.

The state has reported some low intensity grenade attacks in the past few weeks near Moreh, a town close to India-Myanmar border but Monday's blast in the heart of the capital city has triggered panic among residents.

This comes amid protests against possible fallout of the final agreement likely to be signed with Naga groups. Meitei and Kuki groups in Manipur are against integration of Naga-dominated areas in Manipur, one of the major demands of Naga groups including the rebel group NSCN (IM).

According to the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs 2018-19, Manipur, where several factions of militant groups are still active, remained the most violent state in 2018, accounting for about 50% of the total insurgency-related violence in the Northeast. The year saw a total of 252 militancy-related incidents in the Northeast, of which 127 were in Manipur alone. Meitei insurgent groups were found involved in 57% incidents—which included killings of six security personnel and five civilians.

Rest of the Northeast, barring Nagaland, however, saw significant decline in militancy-related incidents, said the report.