Two days after three persons, including two minor boys were injured in a suspected IED blast in Manipur’s Bishnupur district, the investigation has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by the Union Home Ministry asking to probe the role of militants. “A bomb blast took place on June 21 over a bridge adjoining the area of Phougakchao Ikhai Awang Leikai and Kwakta along Tiddim road in Bishnupur District, Manipur. The IED was placed inside a Mahindra Scorpio vehicle, parked on the bridge, by some unknown miscreants suspected to be militants. As a result of the explosion, part of the bridge was damaged on the western side. Three persons identified as Md Albash (15), Md Alfas (11) and Md Yunush (18) were also injured and few nearby houses were damaged. The victims were taken to Bishnupur district hospital,” the complainant, Rajeev Kumar, who is an Under Secretary in the Home ministry, has said in the FIR, which was registered on June 23 by the NIA. This is the first case which was handed over to the NIA by the MHA. Before this, six cases were transferred by the Manipur police – following the MHA’s directions – to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the criminal conspiracy behind the clashes in Manipur. “And whereas, the Central government is of the opinion that Scheduled Offence under National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 has been committed and having regard to the gravity of the offence and its grave security ramifications, it is required to be Investigated by NIA,” the FIR stated. After registering an FIR, the NIA has started their investigation and the Imphal branch of NIA visited the crime scene and they suspect the involvement of insurgents operating in the state and across the border. “The investigation team also met with the eye-witnesses and locals to find out the exact sequence of events. Bystanders, who were present at the time of incident informed them that they saw the vehicle was coming from the Churachandpur side and the driver was leaving the vehicle before the blast and that no one else was inside it,” a source said. Nearly 120 people have been killed in the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis which began on May 3, following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
