Senior BJP leader in Manipur escapes assassition bid

Imphal, Dec 8: BJP election strategist Thouojam Chaoba and his family members escaped an assassition attempt on Wednesday night when a Chi-made hand grede was recovered from the gate of his house, police said on Thursday. A controlled explosion of the explosive material was done late in the night at mbol in Bishnupur district, where his house is located. However, Chaoba was not at his place when the grede was recovered. He and state Bharatiya Jata Party (BJP) President Khetrimayum Bhabanda are camping in New Delhi, chalking out election strategy with the central leaders. The septuagerian leader has been facing life threats from insurgents for quite some time. In one assassition attempt, his wife and one of his sons were killed, although he escaped unscathed. A former Union Minister of State, Chaoba had been appointed the state BJP President, but recently he made way for Bhabanda, as he crossed the age of 75 years. His son Basanta recently resigned from the state police, presumably to contest the January elections. The BJP, which has two MLAs in the 60-member House, is planning to wrest power from the Congress which has been in power for the last three consecutive terms. Some state BJP leaders see a political hand behind the assassition attempts. Police said: “In view of the life threats the politician faces, we have taken the incident seriously. An FIR has been registered and investigation is under progress.” So far, no arrest has been made.(IANS)