People decry over blast at Chhat Puja venue

Pothashang News Service: Imphal, November 4, 2019: Condemning the Saturday night blast that injured three Border Security Forces (BSF) jawans people staged a sit-in at Telipati in Imphal East on Sunday.

The blast took place at around 11: 40 pm at Telipati Chhath Puja site.

The Chhath Puja celebration began on Saturday evening at about 4 pm and wound up at about 7 pm. The programme was continued again on Sunday at around 4 am and concluded at 8 am of Sunday.

Convenor of Vhaisya Youth Club (VYC), Telipati, Deepak Prasad told reporters that  the festival has been celebrating annually with various communities of the surroundings of Telipati.

The blast incident is strongly condemned as many individuals could face injury or even death if the blast occurred during the peak hour of the festival, he added.

It is a religious festival and such incidents should not be repeated, he appealed.

VYC had earlier claimed at the spot that the incident occurred due to lapses of security measures though tight security was deployed.

Due to the impact of the blast’s incident few public were turned up to witness the festival. But the ritual function was performed successfully, Deepak said.