Imphal, Feb. 16: Suspected militants lobbed a grenade into a medicine store here this afternoon but it failed to explode.

Police said suspected militants hurled the grenade into Navajeevan Pharmacy in the busy Thangal Bazar are here at 2.10pm. “It was an old grenade. The detonator was ejected with a little sound but it failed to explode. There was no injury or damage,” a police officer on the spot said.

Navajeevan Pharmacy, one of the oldest medicine stores here, downed shutters after the incident. “We were unaware of the attack till we heard a funny sound and started looking for the source. The grenade was found near a customer’s feet,” a salesman at the store said. The police said the attack could be linked to an extortion demand.

In another incident, a government school was set on fire at Andro in Imphal East last night, damaging a portion of a classroom.

The principal of the Poirou Khongjin High School said if anyone had any grievances, they should come and talk to the school authorities instead of indulging in arson.

Local MLA Th. Shyamkumar Singh visited the school and decried the incident.