Two people, including a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, were injured after a hand grenade was lobbed near the residence of Manipur Minister Khemchand Yumnam in the Imphal West district, according to a PTI report. The incident occurred around 10 PM on Saturday, in the Yumnam Leikai locality. The police said that two people on a motorcycle hurled the grenade which landed a few metres away from the main gate of the minister's residence.
Dinesh Chandra Das, the CRPF personnel, hailing from West Bengal, was posted at the minister’s residence and received splinter injuries on his hand. The other person received splinter injuries.
Yumnam, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the minister of rural development and panchayati raj. Chief Minister N Biren Singh visited the spot where the explosion happened and condemned the attack.
Two Houses Torched
This incident comes just days after two houses were set on fire and several rounds of bullets were fired, news agency PTI reported. According to the police, the incident took place in New Keithelmanbi in the Patsoi police station area around 10 PM on Wednesday. The accused fled the spot after the attack, following which tension gripped the area.
Security forces and fire service personnel brought the blaze under control. A mob of Meitei women who gathered in the area following the incident was prevented by the security forces from proceeding further, PTI reported. The police said that additional security was deployed and the situation was under control.
Prior to this, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognised tribes in the Lamka town of Outer Manipur staged a shutdown and threatened of intensifying their proest over the demand for the release of five people arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).