Imphal: Amidst the watchful eyes of the panicked villagers, the troopers of the Assam Rifles fired several rounds of 51 mm HE mortar bombs to drive back the miscreants/militants in Manipur on Monday, officials said.
The Assam Rifles taking the positions at the paddy field of Pukhao Naharup under the Sagolmang police station in Imphal East district fired the portable platoon-level mortars targeting at Sachang hill range at around 11:30 am on Monday.
The firings were made as a part of retaliation when the miscreants opened gunfire towards the villagers of Phukhao, Naharup, Shantipur, and Tejpur at around 10 am on Monday.
Most of the villagers residing in these villages fled from their homesteads in the continuous attacks of the miscreants after the communal violence between the Meiteis and Kukis that started on May 3, 2023.
There was no report of casualty though the mortar shells exploded at the targeted areas.
Notably, the mortar bombs were fired after the Indian Army’s General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command Lt Gen Ram Chander Tiwari reviewed the prevailing law and order situation in the Pukhao and Shantipur areas on Saturday.
A village elder M Achouba said that he had seen the bombs firing for the first time bombs in this locality.