The Hindu : Front Page : Two bomb blasts in Assam kill five

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Monday, Jun 30, 2008
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Two bomb blasts in Assam kill five

Sushanta Talukdar

80 people injured; police suspect hand of ULFA battalions that do not approve of the truce

Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

IN AGONY: The injured in the bomb blast at Kumarikata being taken to hospital on Sunday. —

Guwahati: Five persons were killed about 80 injured in two bomb blasts in Assam on Sunday — the first at a weekly pig market close to Indo-Bhutan border at Kumarikata under Tamulpur police station of lower Assam’s Baksa district and the second at Haibargaon in central Assam’s Nagaon district. Four police personnel were among those injured.

Police suspect that the blasts are handiwork of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). However, the outfit has not owned responsibility for either of the blasts.

Inspector-General of Police (Special Branch) told The Hindu that the first blast occurred at 1.10 p.m when a powerful bomb planted on a bicycle parked at the weekly market at Kumarikata went off killing five persons, including three Bodo women.

Of about 75 injured, the condition of 20 is said to be serious. About 30 injured, who included two police personnel, have been rushed to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital. Most of those killed and injured were buyers and sellers of pigs belonging to the Bodo and Adivasi communities.

The blast at Habarigaon occurred at 8.10 p.m. when suspected ULFA militants lobbed a grenade at a police patrol party. Five persons, including two police personnel, were injured.

The blasts come after two companies of the ULFA’s 28 Battalion declared a unilateral truce on Tuesday. A blast at Haibargaon on Saturday injured nine persons.

The IGP said remote places such as Kumarikata were used as hideouts by the ULFA and usually they refrained from carrying out blasts in such places so that they could take temporary shelter there. However, since their striking capability had been dwindling they seemed to have resorted to triggering blasts even in those places used as hideouts.

Police suspect the first blast was triggered by cadres of the 709 Battalion of the ULFA, which is active in lower Assam, and the second one by the 27 Battalion of the outfit to demonstrate that they did not approve of the unilateral truce declared by two companies of the ULFA’s 28 Battalion. Leaders of the two companies, while making their truce declaration public through a press conference, expressed the hope that other battalions would join them in declaring the truce to put pressure on the top brass of the outfit to sit for peace talks with the Centre.

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