The Hindu : Front Page : 16 killed, 40 injured in Assam blast

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 16, 2004

Front Page

16 killed, 40 injured in Assam blast

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, AUG. 15. Sixteen schoolchildren, including nine girls, were killed and 40 injured in Assam's Dhemaji district today, when suspected militants of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) triggered a powerful blast.

Police said that the blast triggered by a remote-controlled device took place around 9 a.m. when the children gathered at Dhemaji College ground for the Independence Day parade. All the injured have been admitted to the Dhemaji Civil Hospital and 10 of the critically injured will be shifted to Dibrugarh Civil Hospital.

Another blast at Dhakuakhana in the same district uprooted the main pillar for the flag in the central field near Normal School. There was no casualty in the blast which occurred at 7.55 a.m.

There were also reports of a bomb explosion in Dhubri district this afternoon. The bomb planted in the Gauripur ground where Independence Day was being observed this morning went off at 1. 20 p.m. just behind the VIP enclosure. There were no reports of casualty.

The ULFA had called for a boycott of the celebrations, along with five other rebel groups of the northeast region. The outfits had called a general strike beginning on the midnight of August 14 till 5.30 p.m. today. However, the ULFA attack came despite the militant outfit announcing that the general strike would be enforced only in Guwahati in view of the prevailing flood situation.

Most barbaric: Gogoi

The Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, condemned the blast and announced that the State would observe August 16 as mourning day in memory of the killed children.

He said the incident was "most barbaric, inhuman and pathetic." "This incident once again laid bare the utter denigration of all human values of the terrorists." He said this is yet another instance of "cowardice on the part of the frustrated terrorists. Such a heinous act of violence must be condemned by one and all."

Suspended

Official sources said that the Superintendent of Police and Additional SP of Dhemaji district have been suspended for negligence of duty. The State Government decided to transfer the Deputy Commissioner of the district for security lapse as the intelligence agencies had warned about an attack.

On Mr. Gogoi's orders, the Minister of State for Home, Rockybul Hussain, the DGP, P.V. Sumant, Commissioner North Assam Division, C.K. Sarma, and IGP (Law and Order) D.K. Pathak, rushed to Dhemaji this morning.

Ex-gratia

Mr. Gogoi announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 3 lakhs for the victims and Rs. 50,000 for the seriously injured in the blast. The Dhemaji and Lakhimpur unit of the All-Assam Students Union has called a 12-hour bandh in both the districts on August 16 in protest against the blast.

Violence erupted in Dhemaji after the killing of the schoolchildren and there were protests against the "security lapse." Police resorted to blank fire and fired teargas shells to disperse crowds which laid siege to the DC's office.

PTI reports:

Soon after the blast, Mr. Gogoi said the Armed Forces Special Powers Act should stay in disturbed areas. The increasing activities by insurgent groups proved its relevance, he said.

He admitted there was a ``serious security lapse'' resulting in the killing of the innocent schoolchildren and reiterated that a district-wise contingency action plan was required to combat insurgency.

A New Delhi report said the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, asserted that perpetrators of the blast would not be spared and the country was determined to eliminate terrorism. He said in a statement that "such dastardly acts show the terrorists' callous disregard for innocent lives.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section

PM promises an accountable Government

16 killed, 40 injured in Assam blast

India loses to Holland

Historic event

Parliament session

One injured in police firing

Aerial survey

Amarsinh dead