Rocket attacks in Manipur leave one dead, 5 injured; security forces on alert

IMPHAL: Suspected militants fired two rockets in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Friday, killing one person and injuring five others, as tension gripped the Imphal Valley region following high-tech attacks over the past few days.

The rocket attacks came after drones were employed to drop bombs on people at two nearby places in Imphal West district earlier this week.

Both are earlier unheard of in the state where ethnic violence left over 200 people dead and thousands homeless since May last year.

Thousands of people across five districts of the Imphal Valley formed human chains on Friday to protest the attacks by militants. The Manipur government announced the closure of schools on September 7 in view of unrest arising out of bomb attacks.

Officials said that Friday's first rocket attack was reported around 4.30 am at Tronglaobi in Bishnupur district, damaging two structures.

Around 3 pm, the second rocket fell on the compound of former chief minister Mairembam Koireng’s residence in the busy Moirang town, killing an elderly man and injuring five others including a 13-year-old girl.

"Security forces are on high alert and moved towards the periphery of valley districts, notably on the side Bishnupur bordering Churachandpur, and Imphal West bordering Kangpokpi districts," a central security force official told PTI.

Officials said the "unguided" rocket missiles were locally improvised and were fired from elevated Thangjing hill ranges of Churachandpur district towards the low-lying Moirang town.

Following the two attacks within a gap of around 10 hours, all markets and business establishments were shut down in Moirang town and the rest of Bishnupur district and border areas of nearby districts of the state.

The attacks have revealed loopholes in the security system that has been laid down in the state to contain the conflict, an official said.

Local MLA T Shanti and minister L Sushinro Meitei visited the incident site and interacted with the locals.

"The people are clueless now. Earlier, when there was a gun attack, village volunteers who guarded peripheral villages retaliated to prevent the militants from advancing further. However, this is a new form of warfare, for which no one is prepared," a local village volunteer said.

In Friday’s rocket attack, 72-year-old RK Rabei Singh was killed and five others were injured in the attack near the historic INA headquarters. The injured were admitted to hospital.

"Rabei Singh was preparing for some religious rituals in the compound when the bomb exploded," an official said.

The use of drones as a weapon was first noticed in Manipur on September 1 in Koutruk village in Imphal West district. In the attack in which guns were also used, two persons were killed and nine others were injured.

The remote-controlled small flying device was employed again in Senjam Chirang, around three km away, the next day, injuring three persons.

Meanwhile, the Manipur government in a notification said, "In view of unrest and prevailing situation in the state and keeping in mind the safety of students and teachers, all government and private schools, central schools will stay closed on September 7."

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a conglomeration of valley-based civil bodies, has declared a "public emergency" across the five districts of Imphal valley with immediate effect.

It said, "The government cannot be further trusted to protect the lives of people. The public must decide its own way to protect themselves.”

COCOMI also organized human chains in which school and college students, as well as women from various localities, lined up along roadsides in Thoubal Bazar, Lilong Chajing in Thoubal district, and Sekmai, Kwakeithel, Singjamei in Imphal West district raising slogans condemning the recent attacks in Koutruk and Senjam Chirang.