4 injured in bomb blast in Manipur ahead of R Day celebrations

Imphal, Jan 25, 2023, IANS

A day before Republic Day, four people, including two women, were injured in a bomb blast at Gandhi circle in Manipur's Ukhrul district on Wednesday, police said.

A police spokesman said that the powerful blast also damaged a few cars parked in the area.

All the four injured were shifted to the Leishiphung hospital, where the doctors said that they are out of danger.

Police, which suspect that an improvised explosive device could have been planted in the area earlier, cordoned off the area and are probing the incident. The security forces launched a search operation to nab the perpetrators.

Several insurgent outfits in the northeast including the banned United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), have called to boycott Republic Day celebrations in the region and called for an 18-hour bandh and asked people to remain indoors and mark the day as protest instead of celebrating it.

In Manipur, a conglomeration of six militant outfits -- KCP, KYKL, PREPAK, PREPAK (Pro), RPF, and UNLF -- has also separately called to boycott the day in Manipur.