Indian state leader escapes rebel bid on life

Tue Sep 2, 2008 12:22am EDT

GUWAHATI, India, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Separatist rebels bombed the home of the top elected official in India's troubled northeastern state of Manipur, but the leader survived, police said on Tuesday.

The attack on Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh comes after a long period of relative calm in the northeast, where two dozen militant groups have fought for almost four decades, demanding separate homelands or regional autonomy.

Police said PREPAK rebels fired a shell on Singh's fortified house late on Monday. He was home at the time, but nobody was hurt.

Singh belongs to the Congress party, which heads India's ruling central coalition.

This was the third attempt on the life of Singh, who was fired up on by militants in 2003 when his driver and bodyguard were killed, and again in 2006.

Immediately after the attack a person identifying himself as a PREPAK spokesman called local media offices and claimed responsibility of the attack. He warned Singh to mend his ways or face more attacks, media reports said.

India's turbulent northeast comprises eight states which are home to over 200 tribal and ethnic communities. (Reporting by Biswajyoti Das, Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and David Fox) (Reuters Messaging:krittivas.mukherjee.reuters.com@reuters.net; +91-11-4178-1000; Email: krittivas.mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))

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