Rockets fired at first Manipur CM’s house as conflict spirals

Militants in Manipur launched rocket attacks, killing one and injuring five, escalating violence amid ethnic clashes and prompting school closures.

Militants in Manipur on Friday fired rockets at two spots, including the home of the state’s first chief minister in Bishnupur district, killing one person and injuring five, in another escalation of the violence in the conflict-ridden state where clashes have spiralled over the past week amid the increasing use of sophisticated improvised weaponry.

A team of Mobile Forensic Unit, DFS, Manipur collects evidence after what appeared to be a rocket attack, in the Moirang area of Bishnupur on Friday. (ANI)

Friday’s attack is the first known use of rockets in the state since the conflict erupted 17 months ago, said officials, just six days after drones were first weaponised.

The surging violence prompted the Manipur administration to order all education institutions across the state to remain shut on Saturday.

Officials said the rocket was fired at former chief minister Mairembam Koireng Singh’s home in Moirang town using an improvised launcher around 3.30pm. The rocket landed metres within the housing compound and inches away from his home, killing 72-year-old RK Rabei Singh, a Meitei manwho was preparing for religious rituals. Five relatives of the former chief minister, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured.

Singh was the chief minister of Manipur over three separate terms between 1963 and 1969. He passed away in 1994.

The rocket attack on Singh’s residence was the second of the day, said security officials, pointing out that two buildings in Tronglaobi village in the district were pummeled with similar weapons at 4am on Friday. No people were injured in that attack.

The rockets were fired almost 5km away from the hills of Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, said a security officer aware of the matter.

“We have come across militants using country-made rocket explosives for the first time during this conflict,” said the officer.

Conflict in the state, which has been besieged by ethnic clashes between Kukis and Meiteis since May 3 last year, has ratcheted up since Sunday, with militants turning to newer technologies such as drones and rockets and adding a fresh layer of violence even as the use of rifles and grenade continued unabated.

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh has said the use of drone bombs were “acts of terrorism”, with security forces huddling to weed their use out.

“Security forces are on high alert and moved towards the periphery of valley districts, notably on the side Bishnupur bordering Churachandpur, and Imphal West bordering Kangpokpi districts,” a central security force official told news agency PTI.

The Centre has formed a committee of top officers from the police, army and paramilitary forces to examine the use of explosive-bearing drones. The committee is now preparing a report that it will submit by September 13.

The panel was formed “to critically examine and study into the drones deployed by these militants including collection of all relevant evidences, specifications of the drones used and how to effectively counter such drones,” said a letter signed by Manipur’s director general of police Rajiv Singh.

The senior officer said the rockets fired on Friday were at least four-feet long.

“It seems the explosives were filled in a galvanised iron (GI) pipe. The GI pipes with explosives were then fitted in a country-made rocket launcher and fired simultaneously. For now, we cannot pinpoint the exact spot in the hills from where they were fired,” the officer said.

“For the projectile to travel a longer distance, the militants have to change the volume of the explosives. It seems they have been practising this during the months of lull,” the second officer said.

Amid the violence, the Manipur government in a notification said, “In view of unrest and prevailing situation in the state and keeping in mind the safety of students and teachers, all government and private schools, central schools will stay closed on September 7.”

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Committee On Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), the state’s apex body of Meiteis, declared a “public emergency” across five districts of Imphal Valley.

“The government cannot be further trusted to protect the lives of people. The public must decide its own way to protect themselves,” said the statement.