Mamata condemns Manipur militant attack

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed anguish over the killing of five Assam Rifles personnel in Manipur on Saturday and described the attack by militants as "dastardly".

Colonel Viplav Tripathi, the Commanding Officer of Khuga Battalion of Assam Rifles, his wife and six-year-old son, besides four personnel of the paramilitary force were killed in an ambush in Manipur on Saturday morning.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said the entire nation stood by the bereaved families.

"I strongly condemn the dastardly attack by militants on a convoy of 46 Assam Rifles in Manipur. It pains me to learn that we have lost five brave soldiers, including the CO & his family members," she tweeted.

"Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The entire nation awaits justice!" Banerjee said in the Twitter post.

Tripathi's convoy was targeted at Sehkan village in Manipur's Churachandpur district by suspected militants of the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), a group demanding a separate homeland.