Manipur CM chairs high-level meeting after 2 children die in bomb attack
Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation in the state, after two children were killed in a bomb attack in Bishnupur district.
Singh said his government is committed to restoring peace and stability at the earliest.
"Chaired a high-level meeting with Hon’ble MLAs today at the secretariat to review the prevailing situation and deliberate on necessary measures to de-escalate tensions,” he said in a post on X.
"While peace and normalcy have been disturbed, we remain firmly committed to restoring stability at the earliest. The government is actively exploring all viable options and taking decisive steps to bring back peace, ensure public safety, and uphold law and order across the state," he said.
The incident occurred around 1 am when a bomb was hurled by suspected militants at a house in Moirang Tronglaobi area, killing a five-year-old boy and a six-month-old girl, a senior police officer said.
Locals staged a protest this morning, and torched two oil tankers and a truck near a petrol pump in the area. They burnt tyres in front of the Moirang Police Station and destroyed a makeshift police outpost, another officer said.
Security forces have been deployed in the area to control the situation, he said.
Singh, in an official release, also asserted said that the fresh bout of violence in the state was aimed at destabilising his two-month-old government.
"Whenever the government takes up initiatives to instil peace and tranquillity in the state, we usually witness sporadic violence,” he said.
"There is vested interest in derailing the current peace process when the state is limping back to normalcy," the CM alleged.
He also appealed to people to refrain from activities such as bandh, blockade and vandalism of public property.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in Manipur in ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
