The blast occurred late this evening at around 8:30 pm at the Mahatma Gandhi Avenue which is manned round the clock by security forces. The exact spot of the blast was located at the northern wall fencing of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, though there was no damage to the statue of the Mahatma Gandhi.
The blast however shattered window panes of many buildings nearby the Gandhi Square which were hit by splinters. These included shutters of the SBI ATM booth to the northern side of Gandhi statue.
Metal roofs of the office buildings of City Police station and Imphal West Traffic Police station were also hit by bomb splinters.
Additional SP Imphal West, Herojit rushed to the spot and inspected the area.
Speaking to mediaperson at the spot, a police officer said the bomb which exploded today could be an IED planted six to seven months back fitted with a timer.
Police also speculated that the bomb could have been planted during ground levelling work done some six months back at the area. On the other hand, another powerful bomb exploded near the residence of agriculture minister Ph Parijat this evening around 7.30pm. Sources said the bomb exploded near the western side wall of Parijat’s residential complex located at Nongada under Lamlai Police station in Imphal East.
Though there were no reports of casualty from to the blast, police source said the bomb could be a lethode bomb and could have been fired from a distance targeted at minister Parijat’s residence.
