Blast in Imphal, two troopers injured

Imphal  :  Two security personnel were injured in a bomb blast triggered Wednesday by suspected militants in the Manipur capital, police said. A security alert has been sounded.

The two Assam Rifles troopers were on routine patrolling when the blast hit them in the Keisampat area, a few kilometres from the Manipur Police headquarters.

Their condition is stated to be stable, an Assam Rifles official said.

A security alert has been sounded and Keisampat has been cordoned off, Imphal district police chief Konsam Jayanta Singh told IANS.

He said preliminary reports suggested that the blast could have been triggered by an Improvised Explosive Device.

“We have found the wreckage of a scooter from the blast site,” he said.

No arrests had been made so far, he added.

Though no rebel group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, Manipur Police and intelligence officials said the blasts were carried out by rebels.

On Monday, a youth was killed in a village of Manipur’s Thoubal district after a bomb, suspected to have been planted by militants, went off at his house.

There are more than 20 rebel outfits in Manipur with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.