Imphal: An Assam Rifles jawan was killed and another wounded when a bomb suspected to have been triggered by militants exploded in Manipur’s Thoubal district on Wednesday. The bomb suspected to be a remote control IED went off near a water reservoir at Ushoipokpi under Lilong police station of Thoubal district today, around 1.45pm, according to police.
Meanwhile, the slain jawan has been identified as L Wangshu (30) from Arunachal Pradesh, while the wounded personnel has been identified as Pinku Das (27) from Tripura. They were among the personnel of the 16 Assam Rifles on routine ROP duty on the Imphal-Moreh section of NH-102, the police added.
Police source said that four of the personnel on ROP duty went to wash their utensils after meal to the water reservoir. When they were washing the utensils, the bomb exploded suddenly, killing rifleman Wangshu at the spot, the police added.
Soon after the blast, local police personnel, commandos and additional troops of 16 Assam Rifles rushed to the spot and conducted a massive search operation. There were no reports of picking up any of the suspects in the operation, the police also said.
Meanwhile, no militant group has owned up the blast till the time of filing of this report.
NNN