Imphal, Nov. 2: Suspected militants targeted the private residence of Manipur social welfare minister Nameirakpam Loken Singh with a hand grenade this evening, less than two weeks after his ancestral village house came under attack.
Nobody was killed or injured in the explosion because the grenade hit the boundary wall and exploded just outside the compound.
Loken Singh’s house is at Sangaiprou in Imphal West district.
Police said two persons on a motorbike reached the locality around 5pm and hurled the grenade. Some relatives of the minister were at home when the incident occurred. Loken Singh was in New Delhi on an official visit.
The police had not arrested anyone for the attack until late tonight.
On October 24, militants fired at the minister’s ancestral home at Leimapokpam village of Bishnupur district. Nobody was injured in that incident either.
Loken Singh stays in his official residence at Babupara VIP Colony, which has been in the news of late for militants being arrested from the houses of legislators.
The Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council) claimed responsibility for the attack on the minister’s Leimapokpam home. The police could not immediately confirm whether the same group was behind the second incident, too.
The militant group recently accused the minister of irregularities in the recruitment of supervisors in the social welfare department. Loken refuted the allegations.
Militants also attacked the Hodam Leirak residence of social welfare director Achom Nabachandra Singh with a grenade around 7.30pm tonight. The grenade hit the wall of the house and exploded on impact.
The militants fired at the house before fleeing, prompting the officer’s guards to retaliate. Nobody was injured.
The incident occurred shortly after the police gunned down an unidentified militant at Singjamei in the same district. A 9mm pistol was found on him.
BSF post attacked
Militants attacked a BSF post in Manipur’s Imphal East district last night while police gunned down a suspected militant this afternoon in the same district. The police said militants attacked the post of the 88 BSF at Nongpok Sekmai under Yairipok police station in Thoubal district at 10.30pm.
According to the troops, the militants fired mortars and lethod bombs at them. Ho-wever, there was no casualty.
In another incident, police commandos gunned down a suspected militant after a cha-se at Nongmeibung in Imphal East district this afternoon. The police recovered one hand grenade from the slain person, who is yet to be identified.
The body was taken to the forensic wing of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences for post-mortem and identification. According to the police, the commandos had first asked the man, who was on a bike, to stop.
When he tried to flee, the commandos opened fire, killing him on the spot.