Bomb hoax near Raj Bhavan alerts police
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, May 06 2009: An unclaimed thermo flask found left on the roadside near Kangla moat opposite to Raj Bhavan alerted police on duty on the road in connection with the Governor's movement.

Interestingly, when the policemen were examining the flask, Governor Gurbachan Jagat passed along the road with his escorts to attend a function held at the State Guest House at 3 pm today.

A policeman bends down to look closely at the red thermo flask

After the Governor drove past, police who blocked the busy road for a short while, did not allow normal traffic and hit the flask with a stone to check whether it contained explosive.

With no sign of explosive in the flask as it did not explode when hit by the stone, but found containing only water, police opened the road to resume normal traffic.

Police personnel at the spot fumed over the lack of common sense on the part of any man or woman who left the flask at such a place.

However police could not identify the owner of the thermo flask.

Police are in the dark whether it was left there intentionally by UG elements to cause panic or it was forgotten by someone.

Some policemen who were moving in a Gypsy found the thermo flask on the road-side with no person near it.

On seeing not a single person near it, the team immediately got down and examined to check it.

The policemen thought it could be containing explosive.

It is worth remembering here that security forces and public have been warned some time back not to touch anything which has no owner near it and that the thing could be a hidden explosive.

Mention may be made that in the early part of April last, when the election fever was high, as many as three thermo flasks with explosives were found placed at different places in Imphal city but timely detection had averted major tragedies which could have occurred if exploded.

One of the explosivesa fitted in the thermo flask was found nearby the Indira Park located near the State Legislative Assembly complex, one near the PWD office complex on the NH-39 and the last one at Bapura opposite to the Imphal west district police, headquarters.