Four blasts rip through Assam, 8 killed

Guwahati: Four bomb blasts rocked Assam on Monday just a day ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the state.

The four blasts took place in Guwahati, in Dhekiajuli near Tezpur, Mancachar in Dhubri and Udalguri district.

Seven people were killed and 32 others injured in the blast which took place at 1400 hours IST in Guwahati, police said. One person died in a third blast at Mancachar in Dhubri on the India-Bangladesh border. As per initial reports the fourth blast in Udalguri was a grenade blast outside a police station.

The bomb used to trigger off the Guwahati blast was planted in a motorcycle at a parking area near Maligaon Chariali.

Several vehicles and two-wheelers caught fire immediately after the explosion with fire-tenders arriving shortly afterwards.

One of the victims was a student of the Maligaon Primary School. The students were coming out of the school when the bomb exploded.

Two of the dead were identified as Mousum Khatun and Bhupen Kumar.

Complete chaos prevailed in the area with people protesting over repeated blasts in the city. Some protestors even attacked the police and their vehicles. Traffic was thrown out of gear with hundreds of vehicles stranded.

Nine of the injured were admitted to nearby Sanjivani Hospital, two in the adjacent North-East Frontier Railway Headquarters hospital and the rest were sent to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

In the second blast at Dhekiajuli, six people were injured when the blast ripped through a crowded marketplace.

Authorities suspect the hand of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) rebels behind the blast. The banned outfit has had a history of setting off blasts on the eve of their founding day which is on April 7.

The blast site was cordoned off by the security forces suspecting that there could be more bombs.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary has spoken to Assam Chief Secretary following the blasts and has advised him to strengthen security arrangements in Guwahati and other areas.

Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Dibrugarh on Tuesday.