Fresh blast in Manipur; injured jawan dies

Imphal, Nov 26: Barely 14 hours after a bomb blast in the capital complex here killed an Assam Rifles

, another grenade exploded in

's interior Bishenpur district this morning.

Suspected militants hurled the grenade at Forest Office gate area near Bishenpur town at around 6.30 AM and fled towards Moirang, police said. However, no casualty or injury was reported.

The incident occurred after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in the heart of the town at around 4.30 PM yesterday, in which Assam Rifles jawan was killed. The jawan, Rajeev Sharma (33), succumbed to his injuries in hospital late last night. Mutum Komol, a 50-year-old local shopkeeper, whose eardrum was severely damaged by the sound of the explosion, was still in hospital, the sources said.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the two blasts. Yesterday's explosion occurred when people were going to watch the 'Sangai Festival' (tourism festival), being participated by delegates from Myanmar and Thailand. Various social organisations had earlier appealed to the militants not to indulge in any violence during the festival that began on November 21 as it would show Manipur in poor light in the eyes of the foreign delegates.

Sources said security forces were asked to step up measures in view of the ongoing 10-day festival. All police and security outposts in Imphal and outlying areas have been put on maximum alert to detect movement of the militants in view of a series of bomb explosions in the past two months.

PTI