3 kids playing with bomb killed

Three children were killed when a powerful bomb they were playing with exploded in Manipur's interior Churachandpur district, officials said on Wednesday.

The children, who found the explosive at a roadside at the hilly Saibol village bordering Myanmar and Mizoram, started playing with it on the spot on Tuesday.

The victims were identified as Lalziding (12), Lalmalsawn (9) and Laroukin (4), they said, adding that they were buried by angry local inhabitants without post-mortem.

The bomb was believed to have been planted by some militant outfits to attack security personnel passing through the area, reports said. Kuki militant outfits are active in the area. Over 500 persons have so far been killed in militancy-related incidents in Manipur this year.

In another incident, unidentified militants lobbed a powerful grenade at the house of a person identified as M Binod at Chingmeirong area in Imphal West district last night.

Binod's wife M Ongbi Sima's suffered injuries in the blast.