In what is suspected to be a bomb blast aimed at upsetting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Imphal visit on Saturday, rebels triggered off a powerful explosion at the historic palace compound in the heart of Manipur on Wednesday, killing a rickshaw puller and injuring two women bystanders. Many lives were saved as explosion took place outside the entrance of the venue for ten-day long state-sponsored Sangai tourism festival. The bomb exploded on the second day of a three-day bandh called by the underground Kangleipak Communist Party, Military council (KCP-MC) to denounce an alleged fake encounter killing of one of its cadres by Manipur police commandos recently.
Home minister P. Chidambaram said that the government anticipated trouble in Manipur and very stringent measures have been taken. “We placed Manipur on high alert in the run up to the PM’s visit and it continues to remain on high alert,” he said.
The police said that the bomb was planted in rickshaw which went off at about 11 am near the gate of the venue for the festival killing Md. Kora (51) of Thoubal district’s Irong Umang village and injuring two women — C.H. Bidyapati Devi (25) and Y. Bala Devi (53). The two, who received minor splinter injuries, were shifted to a private nursing home.