Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

Bullet in beer smuggler's leg: Imphal, Dec 29: As a follow up action to setting ablaze a truck laden with smuggled can-beer at Thoubal on December 25, the owner of the truck, who surrendered to the proscribed outfit RPF, was paraded before mediapersons somewhere in Senapati district on Saturday before punishing him with a bullet on his left calf. Along with having found out that the can-beer were smuggled in from Myanmar, the details of the cash amount and other gifts allegedly given to police personnel and AR posts for giving safe passage to the smuggled goods have come to light. Parading the truck owner identified as Thounaojam Inao alias Dhananjoy (35) s/o Thounaojam Budhi of Khongjom Papal, a spokesperson of department of communication and publicity of the proscribed outfit informed that Inao would be shot on his leg as punishment for defying the prohibition on foreign liquor and drug trafficking imposed by RPF with the support of the people since 1990. Inao was found with a bu...

RPF destroys beer consignment: Imphal, Dec 26: A consignment of canned beer, brought in from Myanmar, was seized and later destroyed by activists of the underground RPF/PLA on Tuesday, a spokesperson of the group informed reporters. The consignment, consisting of altogether 28,800 cans of beer, packed in 200 bags were seized from a Tata truck, bearing registration number MN-05-3794 at Samaram Laikon this morning at around 7 am while being brought in from Moreh, the spokesperson informed. The "contraband" items, of a total value of Rs 12,96,000 belong to one Inao from Khongjom Patpal, while the owner of the vehicle is one Chwodra Bahadur from Chingmeirong Khongnang Karak. The truck was being driver by one Tekcham Sanjoy, of Khongjom Tekcham Mamang Leikai. The spokesperson further stated that the truck along with the seized contraband would be destroyed by setting on fire, while the owner of the goods, Inao, must surrender to the party within five days, or else face dire conseq...

Hands over Rs one lakh ex-gratia: Imphal, Dec 24: Terming the Pourabi bomb blast of December 16 last which claimed the lives of eight persons and wounded around 30 others as a cowardly act of terrorism, chief minister O Ibobi Singh on Monday pledged that the government would spare no efforts to find and punish those behind the blast. The chief minister, who returned to Imphal from New Delhi on Monday afternoon, met representatives of the families of the deceased at his official bungalow shortly after his arrival in the state capital and handed over ex-gratia amounting to Rs. 1 lakh each. However, the next of kin of two of the victims, L Devika daughter of Gulap of Keibi and P Ibethoi, daughter of Bungjao of Sekta Mayai Leikai, were not present apparently as they could not be informed in time. Ibobi Singh, consoling the families, said the guilty persons who were behind the horrendous act would never be spared, asserting that every effort is being made to find and punish them. Ibobi, whi...

Civilians made scapegoats after UG clashes: Imphal, Dec 24: Fifteen passengers of an inter-state bus heading for Guwahati, including students and teachers of a private school, were abducted by armed militants near Sapermeina on NH-39 and detained for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. The abduction took place apparently as a consequence of a shootout between cadres of some underground groups last night near Nongpok Keithelmanbi, and the abducted persons were released reportedly after an understanding was reached among the groups involved. The abducted passengers included eight students and a teacher of the Hundred Flowers School, Pangei, who were leaving on an excursion trip to Sikkim. All the abducted passengers belong to the Meitei community. According to other passengers travelling on the same vehicle, a tourist bus operated by GG Travels, the vehicle were stopped by armed gunmen at a lonely spot on NH-39 just beyond Sapermeina, and the Meitei male passengers singled out and detained ...

Death toll rises to eight: Imphal, Dec 18: With one more victim succumbing to injuries on Tuesday, the death toll in the bomb blast at Pourabi under Lamlai Police Station on December 16 has risen to eight even as the corpses of the other victims have been taken after post-mortem examination amidst heart-rending cries of their dear and near ones. The latest blast victim who died at RIMS Hospital at around 1.45 pm on Tuesday where he was undergoing treatment has been identified as Singam Premanand (32) s/o late Ibopishak of Keibi Awang Leikai. The powerful bomb blast that ripped through a running mini bus plying along the road in between Pourabi and Huidrom had killed three passengers on the spot and wounded over thirty others. The three persons who were killed at the spot were identified as Soibam Bobby (32) s/o Bobo of Keibi Mayai Leikai, Phijam Thoi (20) s/o Bonjaoba of Sekta Mayai Leikai and Singam Inao (24) s/o Gunadhor of Tiger Camp. Later on, four more injured victims passed away ...

Seven killed in bus bomb blast: Imphal, Dec 16 : At least seven passengers, including three women, were killed when a bomb planted in the middle of the road exploded and ripped through the bus (407 Mini Canter) in which they were travelling on Sunday at about 5.10 pm at a spot in between Pourabi and Huidrom on the Imphal-Pukhao road under Lamlai police station in Imphal East. While three of them were killed on the spot, another three succumbed to their injuries at RIMS while another died at JN hospital, Porompat. All the dead bodies as well as injured were nothing less than masses of flesh with their limbs blown away. Many more are still in critical custody in the hospitals and the number of death may increase. So powerful was the blast that it flung the bus about 25 feet away from the explosion spot. The bus was a mangled remains of metal, when this reporter reached the spot. Most of the passenger seats were found ripped away by the impact of the blast while the two rear tyres were pu...