Unidentified persons hurled a bomb at the residence of an IndiGo airline manager in Imphal, Manipur, on Monday, police said.
CCTV footage shows that unidentified persons hurled 36 hand grenades at around 12.45 am at the residence of the official in Kunjpal Khadim Likai, East Imphal; Police said it did not explode.
A team from the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) rushed to the scene, confiscated the explosive device and handed it over to Burombat Police Station.
The police said that the explosive device was found inside one of the rooms of the house.
In a separate incident on the same day, two highly explosive explosive devices were planted in two abandoned houses in Trunglubi village, Bishnupur district, amid ongoing tension across the state following the April 7 bomb attack that killed two children in the area, officials said.
The bombs were planted in two different houses belonging to the Meitei community located in Trunglubi Manning Likai Guru Khanna village under the jurisdiction of Moirang Police Station.
Tronglaobi in Bishnupur is a Meitei village located in the border area with Churachandpur, a Kuki-Zo dominated district.
The unrest in Manipur has claimed at least 260 lives and displaced about 60,000 people since May 2023. It first began when Meitei village, inhabited by about 50 families, was abandoned after the Kuki community set fire to two houses.
However, following the government’s initiatives for peaceful reconciliation, villagers began cleaning up the area.
One of the villagers, who spoke to H.T., said: Anonymously: “While we were cleaning the surroundings of our house, a few days ago we were seen by armed individuals suspected of being Kuki fighters. They could have planted the bomb to warn us not to come to terms.”
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Moirang Police Station asked the Criminal Investigation Department (Technical) team to send a BDS team to dispose of the two bombs. “Upon the request, the BDS team rushed to the scene and dismantled the two bombs at around 12.45pm and handed them over to Moirang Police Station for necessary steps,” said a senior police officer who requested anonymity.
A case was registered at the relevant police station.
On May 3, the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), a banned underground group, planted an explosive device that exploded outside the Imphal International Airport campus near a new cargo terminal.
The group said in its statement that it had planted a “smart explosive device” against those who impose the ban, siege, and closure that affects daily wage earners, students, and the public.
The group also claimed that the blast was a final warning to airline managers of the Imphal International Airport Authority who are allegedly encouraging smuggling of tobacco products and liquor in cargo aircraft.
