IMPHAL, April 8 -- Two people were killed and 29 others sustained injuries on Tuesday after security forces allegedly fired at a mob that had stormed a CRPF camp in Bishnupur district of Manipur to protest the deaths of a five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister in an explosion at their residence. The fresh flare-up in violence prompted the authorities to suspend internet and mobile data services in Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching, and Bishnupur for three days. Curfew has also been imposed in these areas as preventive measure. The violence was triggered following the deaths of two children after a bomb exploded in a house in the Meitei-dominated district. The father of the children, a Border Security Force (BSF) soldier, survived with his wife in the incident that occurred around 1 am on Tuesday. Locals later stormed a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp near Gelmol, located a few metres from the house that was targeted, burnt vehicles and vandalised properties, prompting retaliatory fire from the security forces. "Five people sustained bullet injuries when protesters tried to storm a CRPF camp in Bishnupur district, this morning. Of them, two people succumbed to their injuries. Some other protesters also sustained minor injuries in the incident," state home minister Govindas Konthoujam said. He added that the incident took place in Tronglaobi Awang Leikai village of Bishnupur, a Meitei dominated district located close to the border with Churachandpur district, which is dominated by Kukis -- the two communities at the heart of the ethnic conflict that singed the state for two years between 2023 and 2025. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum, a Kuki-Zo body, refuted the allegation that Kuki-Zo were involved in the Tronglaobi attack. Addressing the media in Imphal, chief minister Yumnam Khemchand assured that the government would hunt down the perpetrators and deliver justice. "...There is vested interest in derailing the peace process when the state is limping back to normalcy," he said, adding that the investigation will be handed over to the National Investigation Agency. A statement issued from CM's secretariat stated that a military operation has been launched to capture the perpetrators dead or alive, who are yet to be indentified. Combined security forces of state police, Assam Rifles and CRPF have been deployed with helicopters assisting the search, the CM said. Imphal East and Imphal West areas remained tense with protesters blocking several streets with burnt tyres and wooden blocks. The incident comes at a time when the state was returning to normal after large scale ethnic violence first erupted in May 2023, claiming the lives of at least 260 people and forcing around 60,000 people to flee in the months that followed. The clashes have involved almost every group in the northeastern state. After months of President Rule, Yumnam Khemchand Singh took oath as the chief minister of Manipur on February 4, 2026. The BJP condemned the attack as a "heinous" and "inhumane act of violence", while Congress MP Angomcha Bimmol Akoijam said that "the ritual of mere condemnation will not work" as he called on the "government, particularly GoI" to hunt down the attackers. "Assert your authority. The culprits must be brought to justice."...