[An Nahar] A powerful kaboom Thursday killed two people and maimed another six at a crowded market in India's restive northeast that has been plagued for decades by separatist violence, police said.Police suspected a local myrmidon group behind the blast that shook the the heart of Imphal, capital of the state of Manipur, which borders Myanmar.
"Two persons were killed and six injured in the blast and we suspect it to be an improvised bomb," Clay Khongsai, senior Manipur police official, told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone from Imphal.
"Definitely one of the valley based myrmidon group must have carried out the attack," he added.
The motive for the kaboom was not immediately known. No rebel group has yet grabbed credit.
The two fatalities had come to Imphal to sell vegetables at a market run by women in the area, while two of the six injured were women vendors.
The remote state has long been affected by murderous Moslem violence and is home to dozens of tribal groups and small guerrilla armies fighting New Delhi's rule.
They often compete against each other in pie fights for dominance in the state.