An injured child being taken to hospital. Picture by Eastern Projections

Imphal, Aug. 16: A celebration of birth became an occasion for mourning when militants hurled a grenade at the Iskcon temple here in the midst of a Ras Lila performance to commemorate Janmashtami, killing four persons and injuring over 30, including Americans.

Police said a grenade of Chinese make landed on the premises of the temple, located near Imphal airport, and exploded around 7.30 pm. The place was teeming with devotees.

A middle-aged man, Nir Kumar Singh, died on the spot and two more victims — eight-year-old Anil Singh and a septuagenarian identified as K. Binod Kumar Singh — succumbed to injuries in hospital. The identity of the fourth person, aged around 40, had not been established till late tonight.

Two Americans, 50-year-old Lakshmi Pyari and 56-year-old Braynas (his surname is not known), are in the list of injured. The duo arrived in Imphal from Calcutta yesterday specifically to attend the Janmashtami function, an Iskcon official said.

A doctor described Braynas’s condition as “very critical”.

Maharaja Damodar, head of the Iskcon Society of Manipur, suffered minor injuries and was discharged from the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences after first aid.

An Iskcon official said the bomb was lobbed from outside the temple campus. “There was chaos after the blast. People started running helter-skelter and there was little we could do about it,” he said.

No one claimed responsibility till late in the night. Manipur has scores of active militant groups but religious congregations had never been targets of attacks in the past.

Police reinforcements were rushed to the site immediately after the explosion and a combing operation has been launched in the area.

One of the witnesses, 36-year-old Jamuna Devi, said she and her husband were watching the Ras Lila performance with some family friends when they heard a deafening sound and saw people falling down in a heap.

Nearly 8,000 people were present on the temple campus at the time of the blast, Iskcon officials added. A woman said she heard a loud sound, which triggered a stampede in which many were injured.