After drones, improvised rockets shake Manipur, 1 dead in attack on former CM’s home

With tensions escalating after this incident, a large number of people gathered outside the 2nd Manipur Rifles in Imphal West and the 7th Manipur Rifles in Imphal East at night, reportedly to attempt to seize arms from the premises.

The attacks using these improvised rockets on Friday began in the early hours of the day in Tronglaobi in Bishnupur district, at around 4:30 am, destroying two structures there.

According to police, rockets were fired from elevated positions in the adjoining Kuki-Zomi majority Churachandpur district towards the low-lying residential area of Tronglaobi.

Projectile remains recovered from the sites. (Express)

In the afternoon the same day, such projectiles were fired at Moirang Mairenbam Leikai in the same district at around 3.30 pm, killing one resident. The deceased has been identified as 70-year-old R K Rabei Singh.

He was killed after a rocket exploded at the residence of the late Mairenbam Koireng, former Chief Minister of Manipur. Mairenbam Kelvin, an eyewitness, said the rocket hit the wall of the late Chief Minister’s residence and exploded instantly, killing Rabei Singh on the spot. The incident occurred while the family of the late former Chief Minister were preparing for the asthi (funerary) ceremony of a family member, said Kelvin.

“It happened so fast. A screaming sound was heard before the explosion. When we realised there was an explosion, we found Rabei lying on the floor covered with blood,” he said. Police also recovered the remains of the rocket with the tail portion intact. The injured have been evacuated to Imphal’s Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) hospital.

A security source stated that these “rockets” appear to be improvised projectiles made using galvanised iron pipes attached to explosives.

The official stated that the sound of such projectiles or rockets were first heard North West of Molpheitampak in Bishnupur district at around 4:30 pm after which security forces mobilised and started moving towards the location.

“West of Moirang in a place called Laikamolsau we encountered blockades of boulders and trees. While clearing this, the forces came under fire and retaliated. When they moved ahead after that, the projectile had already landed at Tronglaobi,” said the official.

Security forces came under fire from the hills again at 10:30-11 am in Bunglon and Maulsang in Moirang. “Police forces from both Bishnupur and Churachandpur came to carry out operations and sanitised the area, overseen by senior officials of both police and Army,” said the official.

However, firing and violence carried on through the day. Even after the violence in Moirang Mairenbam Leikai in which Rabei Singh was killed, firing was reported after 8 pm at both Terakhongshangbi and Trongaobi.

With this escalation of violence, the Manipur Education Department ordered the closure of all educational institutes in the state on September 7. Valley based civil society organisation Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) announced an indefinite “public emergency” asking people to stay indoors citing “unabated attacks by Kuki militants.” A spokesperson of COCOMI said the emergency is imposed for the safety of the people whose lives are under constant threat citing unabated attacks. He said the emergency would be in effect until the situation in Manipur improved.