Imphal: Merely forty-eight hours before Manipur goes to polls in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, suspected Kuli militants have bombed a vital bridge along the Imphal – Dimapur National Highway at midnight of April 23. The blast is seen as an attempt to cut off communications and transportation of vital goods and essentials to the capital, Imphal, from the rest of the country.
The bridge connecting Manipur’s Imphal and Nagaland’s Dimapur was damaged on April 23 at midnight in an explosion by an improvised explosive device (IED).
The bridge was situated on National Highway 2 and ran through Koubru Leikha, Sapormeina villages, and Kangpokpi district in Manipur. The explosion happened at nearly 12.45 am last night.
Security forces immediately rushed to the spot and assessed the damage. Massive combat operations were launched to nab the miscreants. The communication on the highway is partially affected due to the damage caused by the IED blast. Manipur is going to the second and final phase of the polls on April 26. The Outer Manipur constituency will go to the polls in the final phase. The first phase, which went to the polls on April 19, saw a massive turnout of 69 percent of voters despite months of continuous violence. The ruling BJP is supporting the Naga People’s Front (NPF) candidate. The ST reserved constituency has a total voters of 10,22000 out of which 4.6 lakhs are Naga and 3.2 lakhs are Kuki.
