7 killed, 25 injured in Assam blast

At least seven people were killed and 25 injured in a bomb blast on the eve of the Tarun Gogoi Government’s one year in office at Athgaon area in Guwahati today.

At least seven people were killed and 25 injured in a bomb blast on the eve of the Tarun Gogoi Government’s one year in office at Athgaon area in Guwahati today. The powerful bomb, hidden in an autorickshaw, went off at around 10.45 am.

“It is definitely the handiwork of the ULFA and we have every reason to say so,” DK Pathak, Additional DGP (Law and Order) of the state, said. The ULFA has not claimed responsibility so far.

It was only last week that the ULFA had warned the Government that it would renew targeting Hindi-speaking people to retaliate against the death of several of its cadres in the hands of security forces.

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In another incident, the Government Railway Police today averted a major disaster on the Guwahati-bound Brahmaputra Mail when they recovered a bomb weighing about 8 kg and diffused it. The bomb, kept in a box, was found in a vestibule.

Meanwhile, the Centre has sent additional Central paramilitary forces to Assam. The Union Home Ministry, which is in touch with the State Government after the blast, has promised all possible help to Assam. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who spoke to Chief Minister Gogoi, said incidents like these would not weaken the Government’s resolve to tackle divisive forces in Assam and other states in the North-East.