US Official Rushes to Manipur

[Guest guest]

Foreigners may be airlifted

"M A Haque, an official of the US consulate in Kolkata, rushed to

Imphal to help with the evacuation of Americans. Some foreign

disciples have already left Imphal, the capital city which can be

accessed only by air or a torturous land route through insurgent-

infested pockets of Nagaland and Manipur that connects it to the

nearest railhead at Dimapur. IMPHAL: The Centre is contemplating

sending a special aircraft to evacuate foreigners scampering to

leave Imphal following Wednesday's grenade attack at the Iskcon

temple."

 

Ajit Das, president of the Iskcon temple where the blast occurred,

said the plan to evacuate foreign members of Iskcon has been

conveyed to them.

 

But some foreigners would have to await evacuation since they were

still being treated in hospitals in Imphal. At least four

foreigners, two of them Americans and one Swiss and one Iranian,

were among the 50 devotees injured in the blast that killed four

people.

 

M A Haque, an official of the US consulate in Kolkata, rushed to

Imphal to help with the evacuation of Americans. Some foreign

disciples have already left Imphal, the capital city which can be

accessed only by air or a torturous land route through insurgent-

infested pockets of Nagaland and Manipur that connects it to the

nearest railhead at Dimapur.

 

Among the four foreigners injured, Bryan Nash of the US and Radhika

Pyari Devi Das of Iran are undergoing treatment at the Regional

Institute of Medical Science and Shija hospitals here.

 

Iskcon's international director Damodara Swami was among those

present along with thousands of devotees when the grenade exploded.

 

As news of the blast reached neighbouring Assam, security in temples

in Guwahati was tightened.

Manipur police are still clueless. "We have not been able to find

any explicit clues on the attackers but investigation is on," IGP

(law and order) R Baral said.

 

When asked whether police suspect Islamic fundamentalists or other

proscribed outfits, he said it was too early to comment since no one

had claimed responsibility. Imphal west SP Clay Khongsai denied

there was any security lapse.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1902628.cms