2 powerful blasts in Manipur, 1 bomb defused

Two powerful bombs exploded at the heavily guarded Army office adjoining Manipur Raj Bhavan in Imphal and at an Army post in Bishenpur district, while another was unearthed on the outskirts of the town on Tuesday.

One of the bombs went off at 5:30 am in M sector in the heart of the town where the Army office was located, while the other exploded in Bishenpur at around the same time, official sources said.

No one was injured in either explosion, the sources said.

It was not known whether insurgents had hurled the bomb at the Army office here and near the gate of the Gorkha Rifles post at Khwairakpam

A third bomb, weighing three kg allegedly planted by insurgents, was unearthed by a security patrol at Moidangpok area on the outskirts of this town, the sources said.

The bomb was later defused.

Sources refused to divulge details when asked how the explosions could take place in heavily-guarded areas, but said intensified security measures were in place in view of the 34th Raising Day of the banned People's Liberation Army.

The sources said PLA insurgents were planting and exploding bombs at different places this month in an attempt to target security personnel.