Imphal, April 7 Manipur Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the law and order situation in the state, following the death of two children in a bomb attack in Bishnupur district.
Singh said his government is committed to restoring peace and stability as soon as possible.
"I held a high-level meeting with MLAs today at the secretariat to review the current situation and discuss necessary measures to de-escalate tensions," he said in a post on X.
"While peace and normalcy have been disrupted, we remain firmly committed to restoring stability as soon as possible. The government is actively exploring all viable options and taking decisive steps to restore peace, ensure public safety, and uphold law and order across the state," he said.
The incident occurred around 1 am when a bomb was thrown by suspected militants at a house in the Moirang Tronglaobi area, killing a five-year-old boy and a six-month-old girl, a senior police officer said.
Locals staged a protest this morning, and set fire to two oil tankers and a truck near a petrol pump in the area. They also burned tyres in front of the Moirang Police Station and destroyed a makeshift police outpost, another officer said.
Security forces have been deployed in the area to control the situation, he said.
Singh, in an official statement, also asserted that the recent bout of violence in the state was aimed at destabilizing his two-month-old government.
"Whenever the government takes up initiatives to instill peace and tranquility in the state, we usually witness sporadic violence," he said.
"There is a vested interest in derailing the current peace process when the state is limping back to normalcy," the CM alleged.
He also appealed to people to refrain from activities such as bandhs and vandalism of public property.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in Manipur in ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.