Grenade Blast Kills 4 at ISKCON Temple, Manipur

BY: CAITANYA DASI (ACBSP)

A religious devotee carries a child, injured in a blast that hit a Hindu temple in Imphal, in northeast India. Militants say the Indian government exploits the region's rich natural resources while doing little to improve its poor infrastructure and alleviate widespread unemployment.

Aug 16, GAUHATI, INDIA (AP) [REVISED] — A grenade exploded in a Hindu temple in northeast India Wednesday, killing at least four people and leaving 40 others injured, mainly in a stampede that followed the blast, police said. The attack in Imphal, the capital of Manipur state, came during a major Hindu festival - the birthday of the god Krishna, said police officer Kasim Ali. The injured included an American and three other foreign nationals, an army officer said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to talk to reporters. No other details were immediately available.

The violence at the temple, owned by the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, came despite tight police and paramilitary security in and around the temple where hundreds of Hindus congregated for the festival.

Army spokesman Col. S.D. Goswami said whoever detonated the explosive apparently escaped in the chaos that followed. He did not provide any other details on suspects or how the attack was carried out, and there was no claim of responsibility.

Dozens of insurgencies have festered for years across Manipur and several other northeastern states. Nearly all are fighting for autonomy or independent homelands for the region's indigenous peoples, most of them ethnically closer to Burma and China than to the rest of India.

The militants say the central government in New Delhi - 1,000 miles to the west - exploits the northeast's rich natural resources while doing little to improve its poor infrastructure and alleviate widespread unemployment.

Update: The Hindu

Imphal: At least five persons were killed and 50, including five American and three French nationals, injured when suspected militants lobbed a grenade in the complex of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) here on Wednesday evening. The shrine was teeming with devotees on Janmashtami day.

TRAGEDY ON JANMASHTAMI: Lying pell-mell are people injured in the blast at the ISKCON temple in Imphal, Manipur, on Wednesday during Janmashtami celebrations. - PHOTO: PTI

The toll might mount as the condition of some of those who suffered injuries was critical, sources in the Regional Institute of Medical Science and Hospital said.

A 10-year-old boy and a 70-year-old woman were among the dead, the sources said.

Hospital sources said the foreign nationals were among those who sustained splinter injuries in the blast at around 7 p.m. Several others, including ISKCON chief priest Damodar Das, were among those hit by splinters.

It being the birthday of Lord Krishna, there was a huge gathering of people at the complex.

No individual or organisation has claimed responsibility for the explosions, official sources said.

However, the sources said investigation would be ordered to find out how militants infiltrated the complex where heavy security had been deployed.

"The temple was packed with Hindu devotees when unknown militants lobbed the grenade," said Army spokesman Col. Goswami.

"An unidentified woman and her son were among those killed," said a surgeon from a State-run hospital here.

Police have cordoned off the area and have launched a search for those responsible.

Manipur Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh, who visited the hospital, strongly condemned the incident. — PTI, Agencies

Indian Express Report

A day after the quiet Independence Day celebrations Manipuri insurgents today lobbed a hand grenade on the ISKCON temple in Imphal leaving four dead and around 30 injured. Among the injured were ISKCON head priest Damodar Dad and three foreigners thought to be American citizens.

Sources said that the blast occured around 7.20 pm today at the ISKCON centre in Gharu area where around 8,000 people were attending a “Ras Lila” programme being held for Janmasthami. On hearing the blast, people inside the temple panicked and in the ensuing stampede an elderly woman and a child were killed.

The injured have been admitted to the Regional Institutes of Medical Sciences and to several private hospitals in Imphal. Seven victims are said to be in critical condition.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the police have not named any group as suspect.

“At the moment we can't speculate on the reasons behind the attack and the group involved. Investigations are on, said IG (Law and Order) R Baral when contacted by The Indian Express.

Highly placed sources said that the grenade was hurled from the southern side of the temple in this largely Vaishnavite Imphal valley where the Hindu population among the Meitei community is concentrated. Meites form the majority community in Manipur with around 12 lakh according to the 2001 census figures.

Director General of Police AK Parashar and Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. Singh, strongly condemning the attack, said that all efforts will be made to identify the culprits.