Five killed as blast rocks Imphal

Official sources in Imphal said the explosive device was planted in a scooter that was parked just outside a barbers shop in the Sangaakthan locality of the capital city in Imphal East district. Two barbers,both from Bihar,were also killed. Preliminary reports said the police suspected it to be an improvised explosive device IED.

As the incident occurred close to a school,two girl students who were walking home after school was over were also killed. A fifth person who was killed in the blast was yet to be identified till late in the evening. At least seven persons who sustained severe injuries in the explosion have been admitted to a government hospital in the city.

A bomb hurled at a group of people in the Chingmeirong locality of the city on Sunday night did not explode. It was in the same locality that three persons were killed in a similar explosion in May this year. Three women on the other hand had sustained severe injuries in a car blast in the Manipur capital.

Meanwhile,security has been tightened in Imphal from Monday as part of the precautions in the run-up to Independence Day.