Two high-intensity IEDs recovered in Manipur's Tronglaobi weeks after deadly explosion

Two high-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were recovered from separate abandoned houses in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Monday, May 11, weeks after a deadly bomb attack in the same area claimed the lives of two children, officials said.

The explosives were found inside two houses belonging to members of the Meitei community at Tronglaobi Maning Leikai Guru Khana village under the jurisdiction of Moirang police station.

Tronglaobi village, which earlier had nearly 50 households, was largely deserted after ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, leading to widespread arson and displacement in the area.

According to police officials, residents had recently started returning to the village to clean and restore their homes as part of ongoing peace and reconciliation initiatives undertaken by the state government.

After receiving information about the explosives, Moirang police sought assistance from the CID (Technical) Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS). The BDS team reached the village and safely defused both IEDs at around 12.45 pm on Monday.

“The two bombs were successfully diffused and later handed over to Moirang police station for further investigation,” a senior police officer said.

Local residents alleged that suspected armed militants may have planted the explosives to intimidate families attempting to resettle in the village.

“While we were cleaning the surroundings of our homes a few days ago, some armed men suspected to be militants saw us. They might have planted the bombs to warn us against resettling in the area,” a villager claimed.

Police identified the owners of the targeted houses as Ningthoujam Ibomcha (54) and Rambo (36). Authorities have registered a case and launched an investigation into the incident.

The recovery comes amid heightened tensions in the region following the April 7 bomb attack in Tronglaobi village in which a five-year-old boy and his five-month-old sister were killed.

The Manipur government had subsequently handed over the investigation into that attack to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). State Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam recently stated that five individuals had been arrested in connection with the case.

Ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities, which began in May 2023, has so far claimed around 260 lives and displaced nearly 60,000 people across the state.

In a separate incident, police reported a suspected grenade attack at the residence of an IndiGo Airlines manager in Imphal East district early Monday.

According to police, unidentified individuals allegedly hurled a bomb at the residence of Ningthoujam Sunil, an IndiGo manager based in Imphal, at Kongpal Khaidem Leikai around 12.45 am. The explosive, however, failed to detonate.

Based on CCTV footage, a Bomb Disposal Squad team later recovered the explosive, identified as a high-explosive hand grenade, from inside a room of the house. The grenade was subsequently handed over to Porompat police station for investigation.

Earlier this month, the banned insurgent outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) had claimed responsibility for an IED blast outside the cargo terminal of Imphal International Airport on May 3.

In a statement, the outfit said the explosion was intended as a warning against individuals allegedly supporting blockades and the smuggling of tobacco, gutkha and liquor products through cargo flights operating from Imphal airport.