People condemn bomb blast in Manipur

Imphal, Mar 23 (ANI): People of Manipur's Pangei area recently organized a sit in protest against a bomb explosion in the region in which a nine-year-old girl lost her life.

The protestors demanded the authorities to apprehend the culprits as soon as possible.

The protest was organized under the aegis of Pangei Youth Yangdong Youth Development Association, Pangei Youth Women Welfare Association and United NGO Mission, Manipur.

The protestors raised their voice against the militants and asked them to shun violence.

"Such incident has not happened for the first time. Bomb blast often occurs in Manipur. Recently Sangapham blast killed two minor girls and here in Pangei blast one minor girl was killed. Such incident really terrified us so we also want to investigate not only by the police. We appeal the new elected Minister Gaingakham and three women leaders to give more attention in such incident," said M Sobita Devi, secretary, United NGO Mission, Manipur.

"They are innocent people. We want to know who are the culprits and why have they done this? We appeal to them not to to repeat this. We also appeal to the government to help the victim's family," said Puinyabati Devi, a protestor.

On March 15, a powerful explosion in a house in Pangei, left five people injured and one minor girl dead.

The deceased was identified as Pebam Babynao, daughter of Zila Singh, retired Manipur Rifles personnel. He runs a cycle workshop in the area. Others present in the house at the time of the blast were immediately taken to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment.

The blast devastated the entire house bringing down several walls and the roof.

Experts suspect the use of RDX for the explosion. Till now no group has taken the responsibility for the attack and police is yet to establish the motive behind the blast. The house is just 50 meters away from the Manipur Police Training School.

The government has assured of all possible assistance to the victims for their treatment and rehabilitation. But people of the Pangei area want justice for the affected family.

Over the years, militant activities including blasts and extortion have affected many people in the state. (ANI)