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| Okram Ibobi Singh |
Imphal, June 26: Three attacks and
death of three non-Manipuris within a period of barely a month have
triggered fear among migrant labourers in and around Imphal, prompting
the Okram Ibobi Singh government to sound a red alert.
The latest attack came last night with an
unidentified gunman killing a scrap metal collector at Uripok here. This
is the third attack on migrants in Imphal since May 29. No one claimed
responsibility for the attacks.
Police said an unidentified gunman shot
Mohammed Maniruddin, 33, who came from Bengal while he was standing at
the gate of his rented room at Uripok Khoisnam Leikai around 8.45pm.
The injured was taken to Regional
Institute of Medical Sciences, here by the local residents. Maniruddin
died of his injuries around 9.30pm, the police said.
Maniruddin is one of many migrants, who
went house to house in rickshaws to collect scrap metal, iron and
plastic materials. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
The police suspect that militants could be behind the killing.
On May 29, an improvised explosive device
exploded (IED) inside a market place at Singjamei in Imphal, where
migrant labourers gather daily for jobs, killing two migrants and
injuring 18.
On June 14, another IED exploded inside a
laundry, owned by a non-Manipuri, at Moirrangkhom in Imphal, injuring
three bystanders. The owner of the laundry escaped unhurt.
Though no militant group claimed
responsibility for the two bomb attacks, the police have already
arrested a cadre of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), who is suspected
to be involved in the explosions.
The cadre, identified as Ningthoujam
Joykumar alias Joychand of Thoubal district, is being interrogated by
the police. One remote-controlled device was recovered from him.
“The serial attacks have terrified all the
migrants living in and around Imphal. We came here to make a living. We
did not do anything to harm the people of the state. We do not know who
these people (attackers) and we appeal to them to stop targeting us,”
Sikhandar, a migrant daily wage earner, said.
The Ibobi Singh government sounded a red
alert in all police stations in the greater Imphal area and asked police
patrol parties to be more vigilant.
“We are taking steps, whatever necessary to prevent such attacks in the future,” a police officer said.
Body recovered: In another development, police today recovered a body from Kangla moat in Imphal.
The identity of the person, kept at the mortuary of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, is yet to be established.
