Commandos attacked; highwaymen strike again in Manipur

Imphal, December 21: A group of suspected militants attacked a convoy of police commandos with bombs at a spot between S Kotlan and Torbung under Churachandpur Police Station at about 12.45 pm today. However, no one was injured in the attack. Police sources said that the militants laid altogether three bombs, one each on either side of the road and the third in the middle of the road. The incident happened while a team of Bishnupur Police Commandos in two Gypsies were heading towards the Churachandpur PS in connection with a case. As the convoy reaches a spot some 18 kms towards the north of Churachandpur PS, one of the bomb-trap laid on the roadside exploded suddenly. No one was injured in the explosion and the commandos took position and fired several rounds, police said. A reinforcement team of BSF and BIshnupur police rushed to the site and conducted a massive search operation in and around the area. It was found out that the militants had meticulously planned the attack with bombs being laid on the road. The two live bombs were defused by bomb experts of the BSF. Meanwhile, unidentified highwaymen struck once again on National Highway 39 decamping with huge amount of money, gold jewelleries and other valuables from Imphal bound buses and trucks at Silarijan village near Garampani under Shantipur police station in Assam last midnight. The passenger buses and the trucks were coming from Guwahati when the incident occurred. M Lakhichand, the bus driver of the Manipur State Royal Rajdhani which was among the buses looted informed that the armed looters waylaid the buses and the trucks and threw stones at them smashing the frontal windshields of some of the buses. The unidentified armed looters dragged him along with two other drivers and subjected to severe beating besides looting Rs 6000 from the possession of Naba. All the passengers were also forced to come out of the buses and paraded in the cold wintry night. The looters did not spared them and decamp with Rs 16000 and Rs 25000 respectively, he said informing that the looters have also taken all the jewelleries and other valuables goods of the passengers. The armed highwaymen have also seized all the keys of the buses and trucks before they left with the booty. But the drivers managed to bring the passengers safely to Imphal with spare keys. As the greatly shaken up drivers and the passengers started journey back leaving behind the village and the harrowing experience, they came across the truckful of Armymen coming from Dimapur. But when they told about the looting incident, they allegedly did not stop and pursue the armed looters and went ahead with least concern of the plights of the victims.