NIA makes first arrest in Manipur IED attack that killed 2 children

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a suspected member of the banned United Kuki National Army (UKNA) in connection with the IED attack in Manipur’s Bishnupur district that killed two children in April, officials said on Thursday.

S Palal Thadou, arrested by the agency on Wednesday, is the first person to be held in the April 7 attack at Tronglaobi Awang Leikai in Moirang town.

The blast at a residential house killed two minors and injured another person.

According to the Manipur Police, Thadou admitted during interrogation that he was the “finance head” of the proscribed UKNA.

Police said he had previously been arrested by the Churachandpur and Bishnupur police in connection with separate cases.

Investigators have also found his alleged links to a bomb blast and five firing incidents, the police said.

Thadou was allegedly involved in a bomb blast at Tronglaobi on December 16 last year and a firing incident at Molnom on the intervening night of February 3 and 4 this year, according to the police.

He was also allegedly involved in a firing incident in the Kaprang area on July 4, shortly before Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh’s visit to Churachandpur. Police also linked him to firing incidents reported on July 4 and March 26.

The NIA took over the investigation into the April 7 attack and re-registered the case on April 23 under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The agency said the arrest was part of its investigation into the “larger conspiracy” behind the attack and efforts to identify the wider network involved.

“NIA has arrested him as part of its efforts to unravel the larger conspiracy behind the terror act, making him the first accused to be arrested in the case,” the agency said.

The agency said the accused was produced before a special NIA court in Imphal and remanded to 10 days of police custody.

The investigation is continuing to identify and apprehend other people allegedly involved in the conspiracy, the NIA said.