Satminlun Gangte was burning twigs to clear the area for ginger cultivation when the Chinese-made explosive went off

A tribal ginger farmer identified as Satminlun Gangte, 24, was killed on the spot when a Chinese-made hand grenade exploded on October 7 night at a mountainous field in Tollen village under Machi police station in Tengnoupal, the border district in Manipur.

According to a delayed official report on October 9, Gangte, hailing from Churachandpur district, succumbed to shrapnel injuries before he could be taken to a hospital.

On Monday night, Gangte was burning some twigs to clear the area for ginger cultivation when the grenade exploded, police said. Police say that the grenade might have been left behind to target the security personnel who have spread their dragnets to nab drug traffickers and anti-social elements in the border mountains.

Of late there have been some bomb blasts in Tengnoupal district, police said. There were two bomb attacks in the last eight days, targeting the Moreh police station in this district.

Meanwhile, official reports said that personnel of 43 Assam Rifles have sealed the 354-km-long Manipur-Myanmar border following series of violent incidents and arrest of drug traffickers.